Cricbuzz reports that Bangladesh captain  Mominul isn’t feeling any heat after the disastrous losses to South Africa in the 2-Test series. We are no stranger to losing in any format but the two miserable defeats coming in the wake of the historic ODI series win hit hard for many. That apparently doesn’t include the cricket establishment too much, whether Mominul or BCB.  It’s great, but what else exists beyond that? The captain has apparently taken the defeats in stride and many, including Mashrafe bin Mortaza have lent him support. So has the Board and so no axing worry is haunting him which is good. But the point is what’s on offer beyond grit and optimism on display?. What next Charlie Brown ? Read: ICC Test Championship 2023: Mominul Haque among the best all-around performances From various media reports one gathers that Mominul like others think we are not great playing spin players. That is no secret. We have also heard that we are not great pace ball players either.  But what has been done about it including going over. Does it make our ODI win accidents ? The spin of bowls and words The explanation that the wickets in New Zealand and South Africa were different and so a different approach adopted is obvious.  It was not one of studious defense but to be a bit aggressive. This is spot on. But where did getting out in a hurry by following it a good strategy ?  Where was Plan B ? If it was supposed to make South African spinners feel out of sorts and bowl badly, that isn’t exactly what happened.  Aggression is fine if it gets runs and not serves wickets to the bowlers. Mominul may be under pressure for not scoring a whole lot of runs but that is not an issue. Any player can go through a slim patch but when the entire team goes through one, that deserves worrying.  Bangladesh cricket’s lack of worry is worrying. Under Mominul, Bangladesh has won 3 out of the 15 Tests played. That’s not great, so why? And how to get out of this? Read: BRAC at 50 : What about the next 10? “Bangladesh team director Khaled Mahmud told Cricbuzz that he is seeing Mominul developing as a leader.“  This is very positive and one does hope that it continues but the bonhomie in the team and management hasn’t exactly resulted in quality results in at least T20s and Tests. BCB must know why?  When a captain fails, that’s one thing and when everyone fails twice in a row and in the way we did, alarm bells should ring.  Perhaps, the cricket board needs to have a much wider strategy treating the platforms for the three formats separately. BCB doesn’t have a major cricket policy other  than hearing high intensity optimism. Any policy if it exists is unclear and so is the applied/ practical framework.  If Bangladesh is doing so badly in T 20 and Tests, there should be real answers to real questions. And just a few hints at solutions, beyond what seems like forced optimism. 

After losing the first Test on the back of a miserable batting display in their second innings in Durban, Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque said they were abused by their South African counterparts on the field. He however did not disclose the terms of abuse. In the final innings of the Test, Bangladesh needed 274 runs to win the match or bat for just over a day to save the match. But the visitors lasted just 19 overs.   Bangladesh tumbled for 53 in 19 overs, their second-lowest total in Tests, and lost the match by 220 runs. Keshav Maharaj, the left-arm spinner of the hosts, scalped seven wickets in the last innings of the match.  READ: Durban Test: Tigers fold inside an hour on day 5 “Sledging is common in the cricket field. We don't mind if somebody sledges us, but what they did in this Test was abusive. The umpires did not notice the abuse,” Mominul said in the post-match conference.  Mominul did not disclose what actually South African cricketers told them or what they have done with them.  “We cannot share those things, and we did not lodge any complaint to the match-referee. One thing I can say is that the ICC should bring neutral umpires in Tests. As the Covid-19 situation improved, I think the tradition of deploying neutral umpires in Tests should be back on the field,” the Bangladesh captain added.  Adrian Holdstock and Marais Erasmus were the umpires of this match. Both are South African.  Bangladesh were charged up ahead of the Test series as they won the ODI series right before this series. It was the first time that Bangladesh won an ODI and an ODI series on the soil of South Africa. 

Anti- Corruption (ACC) on Monday took the decision of approving the chargesheet against former BCB director Lokman Hossain Bhuiyan and former Dhaka South City councilor Mominul Haque Saeed in the casino scandal. Secretary of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Mahbub Hossain briefed the reporters. ACC sued BCB Director Lokman, also the former director in-charge of Mohammedan Sporting Club Ltd, on allegations of acquiring assets worth over Tk6.72 crore through his involvement in various illegal activities in October 2019. READ: ACC probes wealth of Ex-MD of Eastern Refinery Rezaul and his wife On the other hand, Mominul was sued for accumulating assets worth over Tk5.60 crore in November the same year. Lokman siphoned off over Tk57 lakh to Australia while Mominul laundered over Tk 78 lakh to three countries: Singapore, Malaysia and Oman.

Two brilliant centuries by Bangladesh Test captain Mominul Haque and Mahmudul Hasan Joy guided Chattogram Division to score 216 runs for 4 in 80 overs in the first innings against Dhaka Metro team on the first day of the four-day National Cricket League at BKSP ground-3 in Savar on Sunday. After the departure of two openers—Parvez Hossain Emon (44) and Pinak Ghosh (43) – for 95 runs in 33 overs, one down Mahmudul Hasan Joy pairing with captain Mominul Haque contributed 208 runs in the 3rd wicket partnership. READ: Afghanistan thump Namibia by 62 runs in T20 World Cup Mominul Haque hammerd 141-ball 103 runs featuring nine boundaries while Mahmudul Hasan scored the team highest 112 runs off 195 deliveries hitting nine fours.  Abu Hider grabbed two wickets for 50 runs while Shohidul Islam bagged one wicket for 45 runs. READ: Shakib ruled out of T20 World Cup

Bangladesh T20 captain Mahmudullah Riyad and Test captain Mominul Haque hit 50s in their second game of the Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier Division T20 Cricket League Tuesday to guide Gazi Group Cricketers home against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club. Mahmudullah-led Gazi Group won the toss and sent Sheikh Jamal to bat first, who posted 151 for seven in 20 overs. Also Read: DPL T20 2021: Shakib Al Hasan Shines in First Round Shykat Ali and Mohammad Ashraful added 69 runs in the first wicket stand at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. Shykat scored 33 while Ashraful posted 41 off 35 balls with four sixes. Nasir Hossain and Ziaur Rahman also contributed well with the bat scoring 20 and 21 runs. For Gazi Group, Mukidul Islam and Mahmudullah took two wickets each while Nasum Ahmed, Soumya Sarkar and Ariful Haque bagged one wicket each. In reply, Gazi Group scored 156 for three in 18.5 overs to seal the game. Mominul and Mahmudullah added 97 runs in the third wicket stand which proved to be a match-winning stand for Gazi. Mominul perished on 54 while Mahmudullah remained unbeaten for 62 off 51 balls. In the first game of the day at the same venue, Prime DSC beat Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan Samity by 19 runs. Losing the toss, Prime DSC batted first and posted 149 for six in 20 overs. Wicketkeeper-batsman Imran Uzzaman hit 40 off 17 balls with three fours and four sixes while Saif Hassan and Marshal Ayub scored 28 and 21. For Khelaghar, Khaled Ahmed and Masum Khan bagged two wickets each. In reply, Khelaghar lost three wickets in 15 runs and could not recover from the early damage. Farhad Hossain and Rishad Hossain posted 33 and 37, but that was not enough for Khelaghar to avoid a defeat. For Prime DSC, Enamul Haque Jr, Rejaur Rahman Raja and Kamrul Islam took two wickets each.  

After a mammoth partnership of 242 runs, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Momimun Haque fell as Bangladesh passed the 400-run mark in Kandy Test.  At the tea break of day two, the Tigers were batting at 440 for four in 145 overs with Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das were unbeaten for 22 and 12 respectively.  Najmul ended up his maiden ton at 163 while Mominul fell for 127, it was his first ton outside the home backyard. The 242-run partnership between theme is now the highest third-wicket stand for Bangladesh in Tests.  Also read:Bangladesh-Sri Lanka two-match Test Series begins ... Najmul prodded a return catch to Lahiru Kumara to get dismissed while Mominul tried to drive off Dhananjaya de Silva away from his body with an angled bat but failed to do it properly as he ended up giving a catch to Lahiru Thirimanne at the first slip.  Earlier, on day one, Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat first. They lost the opener, Saif Hassan, in the second over of the match. But the visitors recovered from that initial damage well as Tamim Iqbal and Najmul put up a 144-run partnership in the second wicket stand.  This series is a part of the World Test Championship. Bangladesh played five matches of this event but failed to win any of them while Sri Lanka played 10 matches and won one with losing six and drawing the other three.   Also read:Bangladesh to rely more on pacers in Sri Lanka Tests   Bangladesh played a total of 12 matches in Sri Lanka and won one of them in 2017 which was Bangladesh’s last overseas Test win to the date.

Bangladesh Test captain Mominul Haque hit his maiden test ton away from home in the ongoing Test against Sri Lanka in Kandy on Thursday. At the lunch break of day two, Bangladesh were batting at 378 for two, with Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mominul were unbeaten for 155 and 107 respectively. Also Read: Kandy Test: Tamim's quick fifty drives Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka  Mominul needed to face 224 to record his first century in an overseas Test. Right after his ton, Najmul, who was unbeaten for 126 at the end of day one, stretched his first Test ton to 150.  Najmul was dropped at 28 by the wicketkeeper of the hosts on day one.  Bangladesh ended day one at 302 for two. They added 76 runs in the first session of day two and both the overnight batsmen are still impregnable by the hosts’ bowlers.  The third-wicket partnership between Najmul and Mominul reached 226 runs so far, which is now the fourth highest stand by a Bangladeshi pair in away Tests. Also Read: BD v SL: Najmul hits maiden Test ton as Tigers take control  Mominul played 42 Tests before coming to this game and got stuck 10 centuries. But all of those centuries have been notched up on home soil. Before this game, his best in away Tests was 77, which is now surpassed by the left-handed batsman.  Earlier, on day one, Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat first. They lost the opener, Saif Hassan, in the second over of the match. But the visitors recovered from that initial damage well, as Tamim Iqbal and Najmul put up a 144-run partnership in the second wicket stand.  This series is part of the World Test Championship. Bangladesh played five matches of this event but failed to win any of them while Sri Lanka played 10 matches and won one with losing six and drawing the other three.  Bangladesh played a total of 12 matches in Sri Lanka and won one of them in 2017 which was Bangladesh’s last overseas Test win to the date.  

Bangladesh stalwarts Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque roared back into form ahead of impending Pakistan series with the timely tons in the ongoing Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Poor batting performances was the main reason behind the Bangladesh’s dismal show in the first-ever pink-ball Test at the Eden Garden in Kolkata against India on Sunday.