Champaka sees bright all-round prospect in Soumya

BCB’s High Performance bowling coach Champaka Ramanayake said batsman-cum-seamer Soumya Sarkar is a bright all-round prospect for Bangladesh. Champaka shared his opinion with Dhaka Tribune, based on Soumya’s courage shown in the recent Nidahas T20I tri-nation series final against India at R Premadasa Cricket Stadium in Colombo last week. Bangladesh facing former world T20I champion India in the grand finale needed to defend 12 runs in the last over for a rare win against their neighbour in the format and a maiden victory in a multi-nation series final. T20I captain Shakib al Hasan had handed the ball to Soumya, who, in the first three deliveries, conceded only three runs, followed by a boundary and a wicket, to take the game to the last ball. India needed five off the final delivery of the game that wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik had hoicked for a six. Despite yet another Bangladesh defeat in a final, Soumya was praised for his courage and smart thinking in the game. Soumya in the tournament had bowled in all the five games and picked up two wickets conceding 73 runs in seven overs. “(Soumya) is a part-time bowler but he can come up as a very good one. He is a smart thinker. You can see when he bowls he is always thinking. He has the ability to bowl so I gave him the confidence to do it. You get hit one day but you will win more games if you keep doing the job. If you have the fear to deliver then you will not learn. It was unlucky that day he got hit for six (by Karthik on the last ball) but next time he can come back stronger,” said Champaka to Dhaka Tribune Sunday.

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“He has the ability to bowl even in Test cricket, like 10-12 overs. It is always handy to have fourth seamer as a batsman. You have to develop all-rounders, it is very important, especially considering the World Cup is next year in England (and Wales). You need more all-rounders,” the former Sri Lanka pacer added. Champaka returned to Dhaka after a two-day break following the Nidahas series and is now setting up a pace bowlers’ camp for the age-level cricketers, starting Wednesday. “There will be about 15-20 bowlers. I really want to see them. Some of them I have seen before but there are few newcomers also. All of them are around 18 years old and it is the right time to really get into them and make them understand what is required to be a good fast bowler in future. I had done two camps earlier and this will be the third one. We will see how it goes in about 10 days,” Champaka informed. The occasion is the second Champaka has penned an agreement with Bangladesh cricket, having rejoined in August, 2017. The right-arm pacer had previously worked with Bangladesh for two years from 2008 to 2010. “The difference I find now is that we have many players in the pipeline. Because the domestic tournaments like BPL and others have given these cricketers hope and a platform to emerge. What I find the difference from 2008 is that there are more fast bowlers now. Everybody is taking the challenge and it is really exciting. I want to see one or two new guys coming, maybe next year, for the national team,” said Champaka.