'The only platform to show my ability'

When it comes to interactions with the media, it is a well-known fact that there are certain cricketers who need to be asked an excessive number of questions before a reporter can go ahead and start framing the story.

These are the soft-spoken, shy players who find life extremely difficult in front of the camera and prefer keeping their answers limited to a line or two.

Pace bowling sensation Mustafizur Rahman, for instance, is a perfect example. Another player who could belong to this category is Mominul Haque. While it's a lot easier to extract answers from Mominul compared to Mustafizur, the top order batsman though is known for his calm and crisp replies.

However, yesterday the left-hander defied the traditional notions attached to him and seemed extremely excited after scoring his first one-day hundred in two-and-half years. The left-hander scored a match-winning run-a-ball 104 to lead Victoria Sporting to a fabulous win over league leaders Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club.

The 24-year-old almost jumped words while answering questions related to his knock.

“The wicket wasn't so easy to play on at the start. And so my target was to get set first and then play a long innings. I am really happy I managed to do that,” Mominul told The Daily Star yesterday.

Even though a regular in the Test team, Mominul hasn't been in the probables for the one-day side for a long time. While he hopes to return to the ODI side in the future, he believes that he needs to improve a lot more.

“When you compare my current form to that I had in 2013, it's obvious that I need to improve a lot. I think I need to better my game by at least 70 percent,” said Mominul.

“For me the Dhaka Premier League is as important as the Bangladesh Cricket League or any other four-day tournament. People think that I prefer the four-day tournament more because I play Tests. But that's not true. 

“The fact is that Bangladesh play very few Tests and if I don't perform in the Dhaka League then I can't show how capable I am in this format,” added the left-hander.

The last time Mominul scored a century was in September 2013, in the Dhaka Premier League.