'Wanted to break a notion'

Prior to yesterday, Soumya Sarkar had been dismissed on nine occasions between the scores of 20 and 40. When a batsman depicts that kind of a statistic after playing just 15 matches, questions regarding his ability to play match-winning knocks naturally come to the fore.

However, his unbeaten 88 in Mirpur yesterday flayed all those theories. Soumya's 135-run stand with Mahmudullah Riyad changed the script of the game. Not only did Soumya stay till the end, he also changed his batting technique right from the start.

"When I first went to the wicket, I thought of playing my natural aggressive game. But in the first three overs I faced just one ball and by then two wickets had fallen.

"The same thing had happened in the last ODI and in that match I had continued playing my natural game, but couldn't stay till the end. So this time, I chose to play one or two shots less. I decided to curb myself a little bit and see how it went," explained Soumya at the post-match press conference.

That, of course, wasn't the only change the left-hander was looking to get used to. He also wanted to break the notion of his apparent weakness against bouncers. That was perhaps the reason why a number of his 13 fours came through pulls and hooks.

"There is a conception that I am weak against bounce. So I told myself that I would attack all the bouncers I faced because I wanted to break that notion," said Soumya.

Yesterday's wicket was visibly different from the one used for the first ODI, and the left-hander felt it was a tough wicket to bat on.

"The ball wasn't coming on to the bat the way it was supposed to. Some were slower and others were faster. It wasn't like the one we played on during the India and Pakistan series," reckoned Soumya.

The nature of the wicket and South Africa's potent bowling attack led to Soumya preferring his unbeaten 88 over the century he scored against Pakistan when asked to compare both the innings.

"The Pakistan bowlers would give you one opportunity in an over. But against South Africa we needed to create that chance. I would say this series (South Africa) has been a lot tougher," admitted the left-hander.