Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarkar shared some interesting facts about his batting, playing career and the game of cricket in a live session with DT Locker Room Tuesday night.
Here are 11 interesting facts about Soumya:
How career started
My big brother played cricket. With him I used to go to the ground, I did not get the chance to play with them. One day they were a player short and gave me the chance to field for them. That was the first memory of playing a match. Actually there was no specific plan about becoming a cricketer in childhood. Since my brothers played, after watching him play, my interest in cricket started to grow. Later I played with cricket ball in 2004-05 for the first time. And later my big brother advised me to get admitted in BKSP. After getting into BKSP I missed a tour due to issues with my passport. I can remember that I was so sad that I cried a lot after missing that tour. Then I had determination in my mind that I have to be a good player. And that's how it all started.
Favorite player
In Bangladesh I always follow Shakib [al Hasan] bhai a lot, and still follow him. And in abroad, Kumar Sangakkara, Yuvraj Singh, Brian Lara, I followed their batting and watched their game or videos of their batting a lot as a left-handed batsman.
Favorite shot, format
Cover drive is my favorite shot and from the three formats, I enjoy ODIs the most.
About bat
I always prefer bat that feels more comfortable to me. No matter how good the bat is or how much power it has, if I don’t feel comfortable after holding the grip then I will not use that bat. So a normal bat can be preferable for me if I feel comfortable with it after holding the grip. And another thing is I always try to use bat with same weight. Shape can be altered but I don’t change the weight of the bat.
Three double tons in one-day format so far
I actually have three double century scores in my career, including a 250-plus innings. I scored that 250-plus run innings at BKSP in a school tournament. Among the other two, one was at U-19 level and other was at BKSP for Abahani [Limited] last year. Special innings among these three was the one I scored in Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League in 2019. It was the last match of the league and Abahani sealed title with that win. But toughest one would be the innings I played in U-19 level as the wicket was not well prepared.
As a bowler, most difficult batsman to bowl to
These days I generally bowl more regularly. From local batsmen, against Mushfiqur [Rahim] bhai I feel some problems to bowl against. And from foreign batsmen, I can remember that in my first T20 international I bowled against AB de Villiers. That was quite tough I guess.
Favorite ground
Among all the stadiums abroad that I have played in, Lord's was special to me. Because I had a dream to play at Lord's one day.
Preferred batting spot
I started my career as an opener and No 3 batsman. Obviously open would be a preferable position. But for the team, you have to be ready to bat in any order as team come first. It might take some time to adjust my game if batting order changes. Anyways, opening is preferable because as a top-order batsman we usually enjoy playing against the new ball.
Most enjoyable batting partner
As a batting partner Tamim (Iqbal) bhai as I have opened number of innings with him. We usually talk a lot in the middle and that helps me. And also I feel comfortable to bat with Riyad Bhai (Mahmudullah).
Why jersey No 59?
My credit number at BKSP was 459. I preferred 459 initially but it’s difficult to put three digits in the jersey. So I skipped 4 and took the last two digit, 59, that’s why my jersey No is 59.
Dream before retirement
I want to enrich my career stats in a way that after retirement it looks
