Soumya answers critics, not think tank
Where would Soumya Sarkar be in the next game had he made another poor score, not the 169, against New Zealand in Nelson yesterday? That is the poignant question involving Bangladesh's cricket, viewed through Soumya as the prism.
The southpaw had played the Emerging Asia Cup in Sri Lanka of late, a tournament not only unfit for his age group but also one where he had to bat at number six, owing to the presence of several openers in the squad.
The national team's think tank had felt it would be a good enough testing ground to observe Soumya's performance before the ODI World Cup. But of course, with so many openers, he was being forced to play a role as a bits and pieces player.
Then he played a series against New Zealand at home and was dropped from the plans for the World Cup in India due to subpar outings. The team faced an opening slot crisis at the apex event but the 30-year-old was not the one they had looked at for the slot before. Decisions rarely make sense here.
It has been a recurring pattern of poor performances and bad decisions regarding players out of form. Many times in the past, Soumya has been used as a stop-gap measure. The experiments do not end as quick fixes are always what the process employed.
For instance, he was once drafted into a Test against Afghanistan as the lone pacer in 2019 after having been flown to 2018 Asia Cup in Dubai following stars such as Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal falling to injuries. This time too, his selection for the New Zealand series was inconceivable.
Coach Chandika Hathurusingha said he had scored runs in domestic cricket after a poor outing with bat and ball in the first ODI of the New Zealand tour, adding that they needed someone who can "bowl and bat" in Shakib's absence.
A look at records would tell anyone that Soumya only averaged 26.63 in the last Dhaka Premier League, where he boosted his stats with a hundred in the final dead rubber league game.
He, however, did score in the National Cricket League, averaging over 48 in 11 innings with four fifties. But that does not justify his inclusion; nor did the head coach have any justification for the role he was said to be given.
Soumya has not only played sporadically due to poor performances, his batting positions have been inconsistent to say the least. He has opened in 39 innings but the last time he opened before this series was back in 2019, averaging around 36 with a strike-rate just over 100.
Most of his appearances in ODIs since 2018 have come at middle-order, appearing in number 7 on three occasions and averaging 15. He was never a slogger and was always going to find it difficult.
"It's good, when the coach wanted him in the team, we also supported. We have to follow the coach's plan and definitely he has a future plan he considers Soumya fit for seaming conditions in places like New Zealand or Australia," cricket operations chairman, Jalal Yunus, told the media yesterday when asked if it's a positive that the management's faith was repaid.
His 22 fours, two sixes, batting till the last over yesterday, was a one-off. He rode his luck as well, as New Zealand failed to take opportunities on the field. But that will not happen every time. Question that follows is what would happen when Soumya returns to Mirpur wickets with uneven or low bounce.
"As cricketers, we cry more often than we laugh. We play one or two matches well but rest go badly," Soumya said yesterday. He was humble, saying the next ton may come in the next game.
While he needs to find consistency and capitalise on form, Bangladesh cricket too needs to get out of seeing individuals as part of certain templates. Otherwise, the agony of stroke-makers like him would only continue.
His century, far from saving his career, becomes a saving grace for the management who feels they have trusted him. However, on the back of one or two bad performances, Soumya would either be dropped or slotted back into lower-middle order, without clarification of his role.