Everything looking new to Mominul
Last time Mominul came to Mirpur was on March 16, where he played in a Dhaka Premier League (DPL) match. And after returning after five months, everything felt new to Mominul.
The Mirpur Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium is nothing new for Mominul Haque. It was in this field where he started his international career in 2012. But when Bangladesh's Test captain returned to individual training at Mirpur, everything felt new to him.
Cricketers started to do individual training in four stadiums across the country on July 19. Primarily, there were ten cricketers. But after Eid, the number increased.
Mahmudullah Riyad, Shadman Islam, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Taijul Islam, Aminul Islam Biplob and Al-Amin Hossain joined the training on Saturday. Mominul was concerned with safety issues at first but has joined in the second phase.
Last time Mominul came to Mirpur was on March 16, where he played in a Dhaka Premier League (DPL) match. And after returning after five months, everything felt new to Mominul.
At first, Mominul did some batting practice in the indoor facility and then did some running and gym in the next hour. He said after training, "I am very happy that I have returned to cricket after a long time. Everything is feeling new to me."
That is why Mominul thinks that it would take a little time to adjust. He said, "It will take 2-3 or 4-5 days to adjust. I hope that I will be able to adjust very soon."
The cricketers worked on their fitness at home during this lockdown. Also, the cricketers talked between themselves and participated in BCB's meetings during this time. Mominul believes that these positive discussions will help the cricketers in the future.
"Everyone had the opportunity to think about cricket in this lockdown. Everyone worked on their fitness. Some worked on psychological matters, some talked to the coaches about tactical stuff. There were discussions about how we could improve both personally and as a team. I think we can utilise these positive discussions," said the Test skipper.
He added, "When we are playing, it becomes difficult to talk about these stuff. So, we have utilised the time. We have discussed fitness, psychological side or about improving our game off the field."
Despite utilising the spare time, Mominul is feeling a tinge of discomfort because of the long gap.
"I have definitely missed cricket. England, West Indies have returned to cricket. Obviously it makes me a little sad. We are also trying to make our return. We might have Test matches in the near future. That is why we will take a very solid preparation. I hope that we will be able to make a good start," added the left-handed batsman.
Bangladesh will get enough time to prepare for their return to international cricket and Mominul wants to utilise it.
"I think we will get enough time to prepare strongly for our return. With training and practice matches, I think we will have a solid preparation. We will be able to make a very good start in Tests with this preparation," Mominul added.
Bangladesh might tour Sri Lanka in October. The discussions between BCB and SLC are in the final stages. If it happens, the team will travel to Sri Lanka in mid-September. After a 14-day quarantine period, the cricketers will train for two more weeks and then play practice matches there. The teams are supposed to play three Tests and three T20Is in this series.