Bangladesh opening batsman Soumya Sarkar is targeting a fresh start, and looking to recover from the recent bad patch, when the Tigers take on Afghanistan in the three-match T20I series.
The Tigers are currently practising under the supervision of interim head coach Courtney Walsh at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.
A total of 31 players were selected to participate in the fitness and conditioning camp, ahead of the Afghanistan series, and a full bilateral series away to the West Indies.
Among them, 15 players have been named for the Afghanistan T20Is. The selected players took part in a skill practice session at the Mirpur centre wicket Thursday afternoon.
Soumya, who has been struggling for form in the shorter formats for quite a long time now, believes scoring runs in the upcoming series is the best possible option to get his confidence back. The left-handed stroke-maker has only scored 101 runs in seven T20Is this year with a modest average of 14.42.
“Every player wants to perform better for the team. I am also working hard on my batting and performance. As I am going through a tough time, I am concentrating on working hard to get back my form. We have three games ahead of us in the Afghanistan series. This is a good opportunity for me. Obviously I have a target for the series and that is to play well for my team,” Soumya said to the media prior to training Thursday.
“I know I have not played well in the last few matches. People do criticise me a lot for that. I also acknowledge that. But I am trying to focus on my practice and scoring runs in the upcoming matches,” he added.
In the Nidahas T20I tri-nation series final against India, Soumya batted at No 4. Liton Das opened the innings with Tamim Iqbal while Sabbir Rahman batted at No 3. Soumya, who generally opens the batting for the Tigers, informed that he can bat down the order in accordance with the team’s demand.
“If my team need me at No 5, then I will bat at No 5 and definitely try to help my team. Wherever I bat, I have to score runs for my team. That’s the target,” Soumya said.
Soumya stated that he had a brief discussion with Gary Kirsten when the former South Africa head coach came to Bangladesh a couple of days ago.
“I had a discussion with Kirsten about my playing style, cricket and other topics related to my game. We had a conversation as to how I want to play at the middle, and batting order, among other things. It was helpful,” said Soumya.
Bangladesh will play three T20Is against the Afghans on June 3, 5 and 7 respectively in Dehradun, India.
