Mominul's 'three' position at number three in Tests

In cricket, some numbers are never just numbers. The number three batting position is such a special place. This batsman, who comes out to bat after the openers, sometimes has to give a tough test to the new ball, and sometimes has to handle the pressure of the entire innings when wickets fall quickly. Patience, strategy and attack - everything is needed in this position.

Legends in cricket history like Don Bradman, Viv Richards, Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid or Kumar Sangakkara have explained the importance of the number three position with their performances.

The importance of this position has not diminished in current Test cricket either. On the contrary, statistics from the last three years show that Bangladesh's Mominul Haque has made the number three position a part of his identity.

Mominul is in third place in terms of runs among batsmen who have batted at number three in Test cricket since September 2023. Only England's Ollie Pope and New Zealand's Kane Williamson are above him.

During this period, Mominul has scored 979 runs batting at number three in 26 innings of 15 Tests. His batting average is 40.79. Along with a century, he has eight fifties. That is, this left-handed Bangladesh batsman has scored more than fifty runs nine times in 26 innings.

Ollie Pope, who is at the top of the list, has scored 1,369 runs in 38 innings, including five centuries and three fifties. On the other hand, Kane Williamson has scored 1,360 runs in 30 innings—five centuries and two fifties.

Interestingly, Mominul is ahead of Pope and Williamson in the number of runs he has reached fifty or more. However, he is behind in the race for big runs as most of his fifties have not turned into centuries.

The recent discussion about the performance of the number three position has mainly revolved around Australia's Marnus Labuschagne. Labuschagne, who has been Australia's one-down batsman for a long time, has lost his rhythm recently.

His batting average is just 24.69 in 43 innings in the last three years. Out of 56 batsmen who have played at least 20 innings, only three have a worse average than him.

More worryingly, Labuschagne is the only one among the top 10 batsmen to bat at number three in the last three years who has not scored a century. His runs in the last series against Bangladesh were 1, 31 and 4.

After Labuschagne's long-standing failure, even former Australian captain Ricky Ponting suggested that someone new should be considered for the number three position.

However, the Australian selectors have not gone that route for now. Labuschagne has also been included in the three-Test squad for the tour of South Africa. This is Australia's first tour of South Africa since the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal in 2018.

So maybe the selectors didn't want to take the risk of handing over such an important batting position to someone new.

Because, the number three position is a talking point! And the performance of the last three years in that position says it all—Bangladesh's Mominul Haque is now among the best in the world. Exactly at number three.