The elegant Soumya Sarkar made a majestic start to his international career but was unable to score big. Yesterday, however, he finally broke the shackles and smashed his maiden ODI hundred in his 10th match as Pakistan were bangla-washed following the third and final game in Mirpur.
The 22-year old announced himself as the next big thing in Bangladesh cricket during the recently concluded 2015 ICC World Cup Down Under, impressing everyone with his ability to strike the cricket ball cleanly.
The attacking left-hander possesses a fearless attitude but despite crafting glorious starts, the Satkhira lad was unable to convert those knocks into significant ones. The southpaw was continuously getting out in the 20s and badly required a big innings in order to establish his place in the national side.
He did not have to wait long, however, as his moment of truth came yesterday. Right from the word go, Soumya and fellow opener Tamim Iqbal blasted the Pakistan bowlers all over the park. Soumya executed some delightful cuts and pulls and played a couple of gorgeous cover-drives.
He reached his fifty in 61 balls and realising that he had a great opportunity to turn it into a big score, he took only 33 balls to reach his hundred. He reached the landmark after clubbing a six off Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali towards the deep midwicket region.
From there onwards, he literally toyed with the Pakistan bowlers. Umar Gul, returning to the side for the first time this year, was on the receiving end as Soumya smacked him for consecutive boundaries followed by a six.
Soumya became the 14th Bangladeshi to score an ODI hundred and few will bet against him to score many more in the years to come.