The young strokemaker has the temperament to become a top-order mainstay as Bangladesh look to improve on their success of last year
Mohammad Isam05-Jan-2016Soumya Sarkar radiates a sense of calm you don’t often see in modern Bangladeshi cricketers. When he stands tall and clips the ball over midwicket’s head, or powerfully pulls the ball, or especially when he half-leans into his cover drive, there’s a detached air about him.Off the field when you are with Mashrafe Mortaza or Nasir Hossain, it’s laugh-a-minute, with anecdotes and jokes, sometimes at their own expense. Shakib Al Hasan is outwardly shy though he often comes across as aloof. Mahmudullah is poker-faced, Tamim Iqbal is passionate, Mushfiqur Rahim is all business, and Mustafizur Rahman doesn’t speak much in front of the camera but can be chatty in a comfortable environment.Sarkar mostly keeps to himself and slips into the dressing room without much small talk. He has been this way since he was first picked in the Bangladesh squad in 2013. The runs, the recognition and the new life haven’t affected him, at least from what he allows people to see of him.He started 2015 as Bangladesh’s No. 3 in ODIs before being asked to open the innings with Tamim. He did well in both positions, working well with Tamim in the World Cup.Sarkar made 672 runs in 15 ODIs in the year, with the highest average in his team. He also has the best average in a calendar year for a Bangladeshi batsman who has made at least 500 runs in that year. He has given Bangladesh a fresh perspective in the top order and become a batsman who is reliable while still turning heads.Sarkar on coach Hathurusingha: “He doesn’t try to influence any changes in my batting. He always gives us the freedom. A batsman batting with freedom has more chance to do well”•AFPBangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha said he first saw Sarkar when he took a catch at slip. So soft was his grasp that it was hard to ignore his ball sense. During the World Cup, Indian spinner R Ashwin tweeted praise for Sarkar’s batting.
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I met Sarkar in Mirpur during the BPL. He had just completed training for a couple of hours at the indoor nets and walked to the Academy ground, where some of his Rangpur Riders team-mates were practising. He talked to a TV reporter for a few minutes on camera and then headed to the Academy building for a late lunch.As we walked, some fans saw him and screamed. “Shommu” and “Shommo” they yelled at him. He looked up for a second to wave, then asked me a second time if I would like to join him for lunch before heading to the dining room.When he returned, he took me through the year he had had, candidly talking about how it was not just challenging but also taught him a few important lessons about style and substance.”Most of my innings in international cricket haven’t really been in very difficult situations,” Sarkar said. “I think the one against New Zealand [in the World Cup] was on a very good wicket. I needed to survive and there were matches when I made 30-40 quickly and got out. If I had batted according to the situation, it would have helped the team and I would have scored more runs. It is not always important to bat in my own style. Batting according to the team’s needs is a bigger matter.”I had a good year. I started my international career against Zimbabwe and the year ended with Zimbabwe, but I couldn’t play against them [in November] due to injury. It would have been a better end of the year had I played in the Zimbabwe series.””I rate that 50 against New Zealand quite highly. In that game, I made runs through some tough moments”•Getty ImagesAfter making his international debut in December 2014, Sarkar had an outside chance of making it to the 2015 World Cup squad. Hathurusingha, who spent considerable time with Sarkar in the nets, was certainly going to push his case.On the day of the announcement, as the coach and captain, Mortaza, discussed the squad with the selectors in the board president’s room at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, down on the ground Sarkar made a sparkling 97 for his club in the Dhaka Premier League.”I would thank Prime Bank for letting me and the other players express ourselves better. Before I took the field, everyone kept saying that the World Cup team will be announced today. When I reached 50, someone said that you did well on the day the team is being announced. We were playing against Abahani and I made 97. There was some regret [about missing the hundred] but it was gone when I got the call-up.”The World Cup is always a tough assignment, but for Bangladesh’s players it was doubly so since they were to play in two countries they hadn’t toured much before. And now everyone was saying that Afghanistan, their opponents in their first game, were their bogey team.Sarkar’s 25-ball 28 in Canberra breathed life into a poor start after which Shakib and Mushfiqur blasted away and put up a big enough total to keep them Afghanistan at bay.”To be honest, I didn’t really feel like I was playing in such a big tournament at that time,” Sarkar said. “If there were any nerves, they were gone after I played the first ball. The Bangladeshi crowd on that day in Canberra really helped. It made us feel that we were playing a home game.”Sarkar mixes in unorthodox laps and ramps with his attractive drives and cuts•AFPHis 40 and 51 against England and New Zealand respectively were more meaningful contributions.”I rate that 50 against New Zealand quite highly. The wicket was tough, the match situation was different – and the bowling attack. In that game, I made runs through some tough moments.”After the World Cup, Sarkar played Pakistan at home and was frustrated by two low scores before he realised he was facing a hump after spending about 20 minutes at the crease. Once he went past that mark in the third ODI, he belted the bowling for an unbeaten 127. Some of his drives looked to be simply flowing out of his body, since he doesn’t rely on footwork while playing the shot.Sarkar, now less focused on how he bats than how he scores runs, said he slowed down when approaching his fifty but got sound advice from batting partners Tamim and Mushfiqur along the way. When he drop-kicked one to the leg side off Umar Gul, you could see Tamim’s big smile through his helmet. Mushfiqur clapped with glee when Sarkar reached his hundred with a six.”The innings was memorable. I didn’t think I could end the innings with the same rhythm I started. When I reached 50, I felt I should stay at the crease for longer. When I made 75, I told myself I have to stay not out. I batted with that in mind.”Everyone supports me a lot. They tell me when I make a mistake. It helps my batting a lot that they instantly tell me what I did wrong. I think it is a big deal. Maybe when I become a senior player nobody will tell me these things. I think it helps me a lot now.””Everyone supports me a lot. They tell me when I make a mistake. It helps my batting a lot that they instantly tell me what I did wrong”•Getty ImagesSarkar made his T20 and Test debuts within the following week. He rode out a tough final session on the fifth day with Shakib as Bangladesh drew the first Test against Pakistan in Khulna.Against South Africa, Sarkar had three low scores before his 88 not out and 90 played a big part in Bangladesh’s first one-day series win over them. His periscope shot over the wicketkeeper’s head and the powerful hit over long-on were novelties among his drives, pulls and cuts.”South Africa had the best bowling line-up among the three teams we faced at home,” Sarkar says. “I would rate them ahead in all aspects. Of course, India and Pakistan had bowling attacks with variety. I rate the innings in the second ODI [against South Africa] ahead of the third game. I hadn’t done well in the previous game. I needed the confidence boost to make a comeback against that bowling attack.”The hit over long-on, off Morne Morkel, was as much a shot of authority as Tamim’s similar stroke off Zaheer Khan in the 2007 World Cup.”So far it is natural [the charge over long-on],” Sarkar explains. “I am not committed to that shot. I think it is quite good when I am batting in flow, which doesn’t stay the same at all times. But it is important to enjoy when I am batting. I want to be the sort of batsman who plans well against all types of opponents.”Sarkar acknowledges the support he has received from Hathurusingha in improving his batting. “He has always supported me fully. He doesn’t try to influence any changes in my batting. He is strict in all ways, especially about the game. He always gives us the freedom, which, I personally feel, is a good concept. A batsman batting with freedom, playing his own shots, has more chance to do well.”Sarkar’s first steps towards international cricket were through the familiar route of the BKSP (Bangladesh Krira Shikhha Protisthan). “I was inspired by my older brother, Pushpen. I used to go to the ground with him, learned pretty much everything from him before I went to BKSP,” Sarkar said. “The biggest moment of pride for me was when both my brothers were with me when I was called up to the Bangladesh team for the World Cup. They had come to see me play. I really felt proud of that moment.”Sarkar has begun his international career with a reasonable amount of success, but hardships and disappointments certainly lie in wait. And while he seems unaffected by success, the next 12 months will indicate how quickly he can turn his good start into a long international career.
