'Small size, big deeds'

Mominul Haque had something to prove coming into the first Test against Sri Lanka as the left-hander endured a tough time for the past three years under previous head coach Chandika Hathurusingha.

Though Mominul struck four hundreds in his first 12 Tests, the cricketer from Cox's Bazar was unable to smash a century in his next 13 games, where his ability to play short balls and face off-spin was questioned by Hathurusingha.

However the 26-year-old answered all those questions with his bat yesterday, when he became the first Bangladeshi cricketer to score centuries in both innings of a Test match by striking 176 runs in the first innings and following up with another magnificent 105 in the second to save the game for Bangladesh.

Although he is shy by nature and seemed unwilling to make a statement during the post-match press conference, Mominul admitted that the rough patch did help him with a change in mentality.

"I think it was an important game for me. I have had a change in mentality, and I work harder too. It was nothing of that sort. Players are unable to think in this way, target something or someone," said Mominul to reporters at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium in Chittagong.

Asked which century he would rate higher among the two, he replied: "I would keep the second one ahead, because it helped save the match."

Out of his six centuries, five have come in Chittagong but Mominul insisted that there was no specific reason behind his success at the venue and that he had the Almighty to thank for everything.

Meanwhile skipper Mahmudullah Riyad, who celebrated his 32nd birthday yesterday, revealed that he feels the Tigers' fighting approach was the biggest contributor to the comeback and that the team's actions spoke louder than words.

"The team talk was to stay positive, not to be bogged down. The wicket was quite good today. Mominul and Liton worked hard for a long time, because of which we got the result. The credit goes to them. There was more chance of us losing the game because of how it was last evening. But it was important to have the belief. We have the skills, and we needed a big partnership," said Mahmudullah.

Asked about Mominul's brilliant performance, the all-rounder replied: "He is of small size, but he does big deeds. He is a big hearted guy. I wish he performs even better in the future."