Soumya bats in nets as Tigers put final touches

Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarkar returned to the nets during practice Tuesday, ahead of their first Test match against South Africa, starting Thursday at Senwes Park. Soumya scored 43 from 69 balls in their three-day practice match against Cricket South Africa XI last week. But the left-hander got injured while fielding and subsequently suffered a stiff right shoulder. Soumya did not train Tuesday when the Tigers attended their first practice session in Potchefstroom. Soumya started day two’s practice with a light short-catching drill with fielding and assistant coach Richard Halsall while the others were busy with warm-up drill.

Senwes Park looking a treat ? #SAvBAN pic.twitter.com/p1AAS0Odmg

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Bur later, Soumya batted in the nets. At first, he started knocking around as head coach Chandika Hathurusingha was throwing balls toward him. Later, he faced slow bowlers in the nets for a few minutes. After taking a short break, the opener returned to the nets and played against fast bowlers. Meanwhile, other opener Tamim Iqbal also batted in the nets for the second consecutive day.

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He also suffered an injured during the warm-up game. But Tamim did not play against the pacers, rather, he knocked the ball around and faced slower deliveries. The Tigers started training at 9:30am local time. All the players started practice with a warm-up session except Soumya. Later, the squad was divided into three groups and took part in various fielding drills under the supervision of Halsall. The Tigers started their net session with four batsmen – Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah, Imrul Kayes and Souyma.

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Later, all the players of the squad batted in the nets gradually. In Monday’s first training session, only paceman Rubel Hossain and spinner Taijul Islam bowled in the nets. But Tuesday, every pacer from the squad – Rubel, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Subashish Roy and Shafiul Islam - bowled in the nets, including two regular spinners Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Taijul, for a significant amount of time. Even batsmen Sabbir Rahman, Mominul and Imrul rolled their arms around a bit. South Africa reached Potchefstroom Tuesday and started practice at 2:30pm local time. Bangladesh will have their final practice session Wednesday morning ahead of their first Test.