Thank you, Mominul

After months of criticism of his captaincy, Mominul Haque has stepped down from the role of Bangladesh Test captain, and his replacement has already been named too.

Amid all these, what has gone missing is a little appreciation for the departed skipper, who took over the team during a turbulent time, yet brought home one of Bangladesh cricket’s greatest achievements and tried to implement a culture that nobody thought was possible.

Mominul took over the team in October 2019 after Shakib Al Hasan, who preceded and succeeded him, was banned for a year by the International Cricket Council for not reporting corrupt approaches. The decision was an emergency solution as Bangladesh were set to leave for India, and Mominul had to go without his captaincy blazer, which was later prepared and sent to India.

Mominul, with very little prior leadership experience, had to manage a team without their two biggest stalwarts, Shakib and Tamim Iqbal, in India. This theme kept recurring in his whole tenure as captain as he often did not have his best players at his disposal. Since Mominul was appointed captain, Tamim has played only nine Tests out of 17, while Shakib has played only five.

Without these two, Mominul brought a result previously deemed unthinkable as Bangladesh beat New Zealand, with the pacers playing a key role.

And while talking about pacers, it needs to be remembered how Mominul has been an avid supporter of pacers in red-ball cricket. Bangladesh, in Shakib’s previous tenure, had opted for an all-spin attack at home, but Mominul, changed that and opted for at least two pacers wherever they play, home or away.

Into the third year of Mominul’s captaincy, Bangladesh finally found a fast-bowling core consisting of Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Shoriful Islam, and Khaled Ahmed, who have provided wickets when necessary.

And now, as Bangladesh goes back to the Shakib-era, fears of what will happen with the pacers have resurfaced. A pacer said after Mominul’s resignation, “Mominul bhai said to me even that day that he will make us ready in the next two and a half years. Will everybody support us as he did?”

Former Bangladesh cricketer and current domestic coach, Rajin Saleh, believes that Mominul’s attempt to grow a pacer-friendly culture will help Bangladesh in the long term.

“Mominul is always a positive person. He always looked to play pacers everywhere. He tried to get results with them and got that. This is a huge positive for Bangladesh cricket, and this will inspire the up-and-coming pacers and will help Bangladesh cricket in the long-term,” he told The Business Post.

Mominul, in his attempt to lead Bangladesh in an unforeseen way, saw his batting form drop. Since being appointed captain, Mominul has had an average of 31.44, including only five 50+ scores. He has six ducks and has failed to reach double figures in his last eight innings.

Before being captain, Mominul had an average of 41.47, the best among Bangladesh batsmen. And while he often reiterated that captaincy did not affect his batting, it looked like it did, and after deciding to step down, the left-handed batsman accepted that he was indeed feeling the pressure.

“In my place, if there were some another big captain, he might have felt the same kind of pressure if he was not performing,” Mominul told the media after resigning.

While Mominul’s on-the-field captaincy has been a matter of constant scrutiny, especially because of Bangladesh’s erratic use of reviews, he probably deserves more respect than he does for what he has achieved since his appointment.

Definitely, Mominul has not been the captain of dreams for Bangladesh. But what he did should not go without appreciation, and after his almost three-year tenure, he at least deserves a thank you.