Mominul Haque reckoned Bangladesh have the psychological edge over West Indies because of winning the first game and given their good track record at the home condition, which he thought would help them overcome another hurdle against the Caribbean side when they take on the visitors in the second and final Test on Friday.

A victory in the second game would help Bangladesh not only whitewash the visitors but also give them a series victory against any side apart from Zimbabwe for the first time since 2009.

Bangladesh’s last series victory against any team besides Zimbabwe came indeed against West Indies, who were weakened due to the absence of their first choice players following a pay dispute with the board.

But a whitewash was not in the mind of Mominul—in fact he didn’t want to let the thinking occupy him and the team. The diminutive batsman, adorably called as ‘pocket dynamo’  said thinking of whitewash would only increase the pressure and may shift the focus. He rather insisted on winning the game, rather being crazy about what outcome the result would serve.

“Cricket is a psychological game. Psychologically, we are ahead, as we’ve won the first match and our record in our home condition is pretty good,” Mominul said yesterday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium after Bangladesh’ s practice session.

“We won the last match and we’ll play for the same result in this match. If we keep thinking about the whitewash, our focus might shift away. Winning the match is all that matters and if you win then it would serve the purpose for what you are craving for. I think you got my answer.”

He however reminded that this is the new game and they need to improve in all departments if they want to keep the momentum going.

“We have to start our second Test anew. We will play to win the second Test. We will try to overcome the inadequacies and improve in batting, bowling, and fielding,” he remarked.

Apart from top order batting, what would haunt Bangladesh much is their catching woes, an arena which Mominul they need to improve to prevent West Indies from coming back into the match strongly.

“Everyone has worked on their fielding individually. Let’s see what happens in the field. We are trying to overcome it (missing catches). We’ll try to improve in that area in the next match, especially in the close-in areas.”

When the team is on the verge of something special, Mominul also is on the brink of eclipsing Virat Kohli’s record of four centuries in this year, a record that would be a matter of pride.

Mominul though knew it well what a century matters, he said he wants to keep focus on doing something special for team’s cause.

“I am not thinking that I have an opportunity [to surpass Kohli in terms of Test centuries in 2018]. I always try to bat for as many sessions as I can and to play according to my plan and routine, and to do as much as I can, for the team,” he said.

However what should be termed a Achilles-hills is Mominul’s failure to convert his 150 to 200 as the feat eluded him four times. As he has been in tremendous form, expectation was high to break the double-century-jinx.

“Thinking about why I am scoring 150s and not reaching 200, will cause me unnecessary botheration. If you keep working and practicing on a regular basis, then I will overcome that. If I can figure out what’s causing the problem at that point, it’ll automatically be okay,” Mominul informed. And also given the form, Mominul is expected to make a century in the Test, on what is going to be Bangladesh’s year-end Test.

“It is difficult to perform while thinking of ending the year with a century. I always try to do something for the team in every match as a player; every player thinks that way. So, I will try to make some contribution which can help my team win the last match. Thinking this way makes it easier to perform,” he concluded.