The Bangladeshi players are on a record-setting spree as majestic left-handed batsman Mominul Haque reached a few milestones in the fourth day of their second Test against Zimbabwe in Khulna yesterday.
The 23-year-old started his 11th Test match in Khulna needing 70 runs to become the quickest Bangladeshi to reach 1000 runs in the longer version and after getting out on 34 in the first attempt, the shortest member of the Tigers made sure of bagging the record with a 54-run patient knock.
Indians Sunil Gavaskar and Cheteshwar Pujara are the only other players in the subcontinent to reach the milestone by the end of their 11th game while his fifty in the second innings also saw Mominul getting rewarded with a rare achievement.
In only one Test match, against Zimbabwe in 2013, Mominul scored 23 and 29. In his 11-match career that was the only time when he was unable to score a half century as his consistency reflects on his average of 56.61. Among players who have played more than 10 Tests, Australian great Sir Donald Bradman is second to Mominul with a percentage of 73.1% of 50s per match.
However, the little master had no idea of entering the 1000-run club as the quickest player to do so and only came to know it from team doctor Debashish Chowdhury and a few journalists while he was on his way to the post-day press conference.
Surprisingly, he was least concerned of the achievements and seemed rather upset for not being able to convert the fifties to a bigger score. Out of his 10 fifty-plus scores in Tests Mominul got out six times before reaching 60.
“I am concerned for my batting and do not want to know anything about records at this stage. There must be something wrong (in batting for not being able to make bigger scores) so I am trying to rectify it as soon as possible,” Mominul told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
“No (I did not know about the record of quickest 1000 runs). Someone in the dressing room told me something like this after I returned,” he added.
Bangladesh will resume the last day today with a lead of 266 runs and five wickets in hand. Mominul feels they are safely placed in the Test match and that they will be playing for an outright victory.