Centurion Mominul Haque expressed frustration despite scoring a brilliant hundred on day one against the West Indies at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium Thursday.
Mominul’s superb knock led Bangladesh towards a big total as at one stage, they were 222 for the loss of three wickets.
But just after Mominul got out, the Tigers lost three more wickets and suffered a mini-collapse.
The tail-enders however, managed to hold on as Bangladesh took the score past 300 in the end.
But Mominul believes his bad shot, which cost him his wicket, was the reason behind Bangladesh’s collapse.
“I think there is only one explanation. If I didn’t get out and if I didn’t play that bad shot we would not have had that collapse. I think the whole blame falls on me. (Shannon) Gabriel probably would have bowled two more overs in that spell and we could have been in a stronger position at the end of the day, maybe for the loss of one more wicket. If I didn’t get out then, maybe the other wickets wouldn’t have fallen – Mushfiqur (Rahim) bhai would not have gotten out, neither would (Mahmudullah) Riyad bhai or Shakib (al Hasan) bhai. So I think my dismissal was costly,” said Mominul during the post-day press conference Thursday.
“The ball was well outside the off-stump and I could have left it. If I hadn’t gotten out, it would have helped the team. If we hadn’t lost wickets then we could have eyed 400 but then they (Windies) went ahead by getting those wickets, but I think we made up for it in the end,” he added.
Mominul’s century was the eighth hundred for the left-hander in Tests, and he equaled Tamim Iqbal’s record for the highest number of Test centuries for Bangladesh.
Interestingly, this is the sixth century Mominul has scored at ZACS.
When asked whether this ground is lucky for him, the humble Mominul answered with a smile, saying, “I don’t know, maybe Allah’s grace is upon me (here). I never thought about it, like I will score hundreds if I come here. I really don’t have an answer to this question.”
Despite facing a mini-collapse, youngster Mehedi Hasan Miraz, tail-ender Taijul Islam and debutant Nayeem Hasan batted well to recover things and Mominul gave full praise to them for their valiant effort.
He said, “I think the tail-enders batting well was very vital. This partnership could be match-winning, if we win. Taijul and Nayeem batted really well. If they can score more runs (today) then it will be great for us. There is no fixed target of how much we want to score. Let’s see, what happens (Friday).”
1ST TEST, DAY 1
BANGLADESH 1ST INNINGS R B
Imrul c Ambris b Warrican 44 87
Soumya c Dowrich b Roach 0 2
Mominul c Dowrich b Gabriel 120 167
Mithun c Dowrich b Bishoo 20 50
Shakib b Gabriel 34 68
Mushfiq lbw b Gabriel 4 3
Mahmudullah b Gabriel 3 7
Miraz b Warrican 22 31
Nayeem Not out 24 60
Taijul not out 32 57
Extras (b 3, lb 5, nb 4) 12
Total (88 Overs) 315/8
Fall Of Wickets
1-1 (Soumya), 2-105 (Imrul), 3-153 (Mithun), 4-222 (Mominul), 5-226 (Mushfiq), 6-230 (Mahmudullah), 7-235 (Shakib), 8-259 (Miraz)
Bowling
Roach 15-2-55-1, Gabriel 18-2-69-4, Chase 11-0-42-0, Warrican 21-6-62-2, Bishoo 15-0-60-1, Brathwaite 8-1-19-0
