Bangladesh cricket team discard Soumya Sarkar has been among the discussions in the cricketing arena of the country for his inclusion in the ongoing national camp at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
Conversations are abound that Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha is making some serious effort to bring Soumya back on track.
Left-handed batter Soumya along with a few others in the form of Mosaddek Hossain and Mahedi Hasan, who are outside of the current Bangladesh squad have been made part of the camp that is preparing for the One Day International and Twenty20 International home series against Afghanistan following the Eid ul Azha break.
Speaking to the media on the last day of training at the home of cricket before the Eid holidays, Bangladesh national team assistant coach Nic Pothas mentioned that Soumya along with the other national discards are “under the team management's observation”.
Soumya last played for Bangladesh against Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Adelaide, Australia before being axed from the team following a dismal campaign in the world event.
In four games, the southpaw scored just 49 runs.
Pothas however, said it is still too early to think Soumya as an option in the national dressing room.
“I am not sure [of his inclusion in the national team anytime soon]. I have only seen him at his best on TV a long time ago. For us now, it is an observation period. We want him to relax and play because we know he is very good. But I have only seen him three times at the net under no pressure. And that's not enough time to have an opinion of him. So, I have to take time and observe him,” said Pothas to the media Saturday.
Bangladesh have previously experimented with Soumya at different positions in the batting line-up.
However, Pothas informed that they are yet to decide for which position they are considering Soumya.
“Soumya has obviously batted at the top of the order before. But this is a conversation with the head coach we have not had yet. At the moment, it is really the beginning of the observation phase,” Pothas.
“I think he is going to get opportunities to go away with emerging players to play again. But for batters, their currency is runs. What you look like or what we think anyone can do is irrelevant - that just gets you into the system. But the thing that gets you into the team is runs,” the former South African cricketer added.
Soumya first came to the international arena in 2014 during Hathurusingha's first stint with the Bangladesh national team.
The 30-year old since then has played 16 Tests, 61 ODIs and 72 T20Is and garnered 831, 1,768 and 1,212 runs respectively.
The Bangladesh cricketers will regroup in Chittagong next Saturday while their opposition Afghanistan are scheduled to reach Dhaka.
The series will resume with the three-match ODI series on July 5, 8 and 11 respectively.
Both Bangladesh and Afghanistan will then travel to Sylhet to fight it out in the two T20Is on July 14 and 16 respectively.
In the first phase of the bilateral series earlier this month, Bangladesh registered a record 564-run victory against Afghanistan in the lone Test match in Dhaka.
