A special ton even for Ctg

A Chattogram Test and a Mominul Haque century is not really new -- the quiet, slightly built Bangladesh left-hander had hit five tons at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium before yesterday's sixth. While it may seem par for the Chattogram course, his 120 on the first day of the first Test against West Indies was a slight departure.

There is an unfortunate tendency in Bangladesh to view overachievers with suspicion. And Mominul -- quiet, unassuming, inexpressive and not fitting the mould of the new, brash and ambitious young Bangladesh superstar -- becoming Bangladesh's joint-highest Test centurion as well as having the country's highest Test average is the definition of overachievement in many eyes.

Common criticisms have been that he scores runs on flat wickets and that he scores centuries during run sprees. That of course ignores the fact that four of those centuries came in the second innings -- three of them in service of draws and one in a winning cause.

However, there could be none of those criticisms against yesterday's innings, which was the only one of note on a difficult, turning wicket when he had to start at one for one in the first over against the new ball with Caribbean tails up.

"Compared to other wickets this one is a bit slower and takes more turn. The ones I played on before [at the venue] were flat and did not spin much. The ball also stays low," said Mominul after the day's play. 

After Soumya Sarkar's dismissal in the first over, Mominul put on 104 with Imrul Kayes in the first session and after Mohammad Mithun's dismissal midway through the second session, Mominul put on a 79-run fourth-wicket stand with skipper Shakib Al Hasan. None of his partners, however, looked nearly as much in command as Mominul was over his 167-ball stay.

In the ill-fated Test series in the West Indies in July this year, he was guilty of losing his wicket by going hard at the ball outside off stump, especially when the pacers were operating around the wicket. There was evidence yesterday that he had worked on that problem in technique and approach. Most impressive was his judgement of length. Length balls in the corridor of uncertainty were left alone, but whenever Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel overpitched, he extended his slight frame, meeting the ball low and adjacent to his eyes and driving forcefully. His back-foot play was on point as well, hooking and cutting wayward deliveries with a flourish.

He did have a bit of luck, being dropped on 67 by the wicketkeeper off leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo after lunch. His next mistake cost him his wicket as he succumbed to the temptation he had avoided all day -- chasing a wide Gabriel delivery and setting off a collapse of four wickets for 13 runs. It says much about his sense of responsibility that despite playing the definitive innings for his side, he took all the blame for Bangladesh nearly losing the ascendancy.

"I think the whole blame falls on me. He [Gabriel] probably would have bowled two more overs in that spell and [if I didn't get out] maybe 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, maybe the other wickets wouldn't have fallen -- Mushfiqur [Rahim] bhai wouldn't have gotten out, neither [Mahmudullah] Riyad bhai nor Shakib bhai."

Former coach Chandika Hathurusingha -- who is rumoured to be one of those detractors and during whose tenure Mominul failed to strike a single ton -- was mentioned, but Mominul left that ball alone.

"Maybe that [his century-less streak] was good for me -- people encounter small struggles in life and it is up to what you can learn from that struggle. I never thought of it as having a point to prove to Hathurusingha. I am the one who has to perform on the field."

As he walked away from the press conference, he was probably not thinking that the corridor of uncertainty for his detractors had just grown narrower; instead just thinking about his next innings.