5 current Test players who are underrated

#4 Mominul Haque (Bangladesh)

Mominul Haque has a Test average of 56 after having played 17 Tests with 4 hundreds

While it should take some time for Bangladesh’s recent limited-overs success to translate into Test cricket victories, one batsman who has certainly made all the good news since his debut has been Mominul Haque. Having made his debut against Sri Lanka in 2013, Haque impressed immediately as he hit two fifties in his first three Test innings – 55 and 64 against Sri Lanka at Galle and Colombo.

It didn’t take much time for him to convert these fifties into triple digits as only in his 6th Test innings, the left-handed batsman hit a magnificent 181 against New Zealand at Chittagong, and followed it with 126* in the second Test during the home series in October 2013.

When Sri Lanka came to visit Bangladesh early next year, Haque gave them a taste of his superfluous batting as well, as he scored his third Test hundred, scoring 100* off 167 balls at Chittagong. The fourth and the last century that Haque has scored till date came against Zimbabwe, also at home.

While all of his Test tons have been scored on Bangladeshi soil, the promise that this 24-year-old has shown, and two half centuries each in Sri Lanka and the West Indies – two of the three away venues he has played at – show that the youngster has the potential to adjust to different conditions and play accordingly. Haque almost broke AB de Villiers’ record for the most number of half-centuries in consecutive Tests (12) when he made at least a 50+ score in 11 consecutive Tests that he played from October 2013 to June 2015.

However, this young prodigy has gone unnoticed amidst the cricketing galleries, behind the pomp and show surrounding some of their more established players such as Tamim Iqbal, Shakib-Al-Hasan and the newest cricketing sensation, Mustafizur Rahman. Also, the fact that Haque hasn’t featured in any of Bangladesh’s limited-overs teams on a regular basis has perhaps prevented his recognition. However, in Haque, Bangladesh have a serious talent who needs to be looked after and nurtured properly.