During his exceptional innings, Sarkar amassed 169 runs off 151 balls at a striking rate of 111.92, lacing his performance with 22 boundaries and 2 sixes against the Kiwi bowling unit.

His outstanding knock surpassed Tendulkar’s milestone for the highest runs scored in ODIs by a player from the sub-continent in New Zealand, a record set by the ‘Master Blaster’ with an unbeaten 163-run innings against New Zealand in Christchurch back in 2009. Additionally, Sarkar’s innings marked the highest individual score by a Bangladeshi cricketer in an away ground in ODIs.

In this match, New Zealand chose to field first after winning the toss at Saxton Oval. While Sarkar showcased brilliance with his 169-run contribution, his teammates struggled to make significant impacts, with no other player crossing the 50-run mark. Wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim’s 45 runs from 57 balls added substance to the middle order, aiding Bangladesh to post a total of 291 runs.

In response, New Zealand required 292 runs in 50 overs to secure their second consecutive victory in the three-match ODI series.

According to Bangladesh’s assistant coach, Nic Pothas, Soumya Sarkar is currently being closely observed by the team management as he strives to make a comeback to the national squad.

As part of this evaluation process, Soumya, along with a few other players outside the current Bangladesh squad, has been called up to the ongoing national camp at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

Soumya last represented Bangladesh during the 2022 T20 World Cup in Adelaide against Pakistan. Following a disappointing campaign in the tournament, the 30-year-old was dropped from the squad.

When asked about Soumya’s performance during training and whether he has regained his best form, Pothas stated that it is still too early to provide a definitive opinion.

“I cannot say for sure. I have only seen him at his best on TV a long time ago. Currently, we are in an observation period. We want him to relax and play because we know he is very talented. However, I have only seen him bat three times in the nets without any pressure, and that’s not sufficient time to form an opinion. So, I need more time to observe him,” Pothas explained.

Bangladesh has previously experimented with Soumya in various batting positions. However, Pothas mentioned that they have yet to determine which position they are considering for Soumya.

“He has previously batted at the top of the order, but the head coach and I have not had that discussion yet. Currently, we are in the early stages of the observation phase.”

Pothas emphasized that Soumya is likely to receive opportunities to play with emerging players. However, he emphasized that runs are the key currency for batsmen.

“For batters, their performance is measured by runs. What someone looks like or what we think they can do is irrelevant—it only gets them into the system. Ultimately, it is runs that earn a place in the team,” Pothas concluded.

Soumya Sarkar was the auto choice in the Bangladesh team a few days ago. However, many contexts have changed in the wind of change. Surprised Soumya is now waiting for a surprise herself. After debuting in 2014, Soumya Sarkar had a dreamy time. At home in 2016, Soumya ruled the opposition bowlers with the bat in three consecutive series against Pakistan, India, and South Africa. But with the passage of time, his batting edge also decreased in the opposite direction. Soumya Sarkar is not able to play cricket as expected. This batsman is not getting any runs in the national team or the domestic league. Still, BCB does not want to throw Soumya. Instead, if the batting problems can be fixed, Soumya will be brought into the national team’s plans again. This is what BCB selector Habibul Bashar Suman said. Everyone thought that after Chandika came to Hathurusingha, Soumya’s fortunes might turn around. But BPL-DPL is not smiling anywhere. So Soumya is staying hidden for now. But the fact that this talented batsman is still in the selectors’ plans is evident in Habibul Basha’s Suman.

About Soumya, Suman said, ‘Now I am not getting the performance from her as expected. He is still in our thoughts. Soumya has match-winning innings against big teams. He has nothing to explain. He has to understand himself. Meanwhile, Soumya played in the national team jersey in the last T20 World Cup. He was dropped from the team after scoring just 49 runs in four matches in that World Cup in Australia. Last year he had a fading period in 6 T20Is. At this time he scored only 76. Soumya could not spread much light in the last Bangladesh Premier League BPL. He played only 174 runs in 12 matches in the tournament. Apart from this, only 161 runs have come from Soumya’s bat in 9 rounds in the ongoing Dhaka League. Maximum 56. Scored 41 runs in another match. He got out before 20 runs in all the remaining games.

Soumya Sarkar’s bat has not spoken anywhere since the last T20 World Cup and the recently concluded BPL. Regardless of the strike rate throughout this period, the average did not cross the quota of 15. In this situation, Khaled Mahmud Sujan thinks it is very difficult for him to return to the national team again. Soumya Sarkar, a fallen star of Bangladesh cricket. Who came with a thousand dreams just before the 2015 World Cup. There were some great examples in the Premier League of that left-handed batsman that day. So the then coach Hathurusinghe took Soumya in the team against the opinion of many. He did not have to look back after that. He was the best choice in all three formats of the national team.

But day after day formlessness has forced everyone to lose faith in him. Despite many experiments with batting positions, Soumya could not settle anywhere. However, many still believed in him. That is why he got a place in the Australia T20 tournament. But failed to reciprocate trust like every time. He played 4 matches and scored 49 runs. Although the strike rate was 125, the average was 12.254 in total. Many thought it was the end of Soumya. But Dhaka Dominators trust him again in BPL. But Soumya remained as before. He scored only 174 runs in 12 innings. This time the average has increased by two, but the strike rate has fallen to 108. Even though he hit a fifty, he played 45 balls for him. Presumably, so he is once again out of consideration. But despite not doing well in BPL, Soumya’s bat is quite good in Kheper cricket. Soumya Sarkar made the team champion by scoring 82 runs from 35 balls in a tournament organized by Kulaura Upazila Sports Association of Moulvibazar.

Therefore, the question again on the day of former Guru Hathuru’s resumption of responsibility, is Soumya’s day over? BCB director Khaled Mahmud Sujan is not so strict in his thinking. But do not expect as before. Sujan said, ‘He has to take the challenge. At the end of the day, performance is a condition to get a chance in the national team. If you don’t perform you won’t get a chance in the team, very normal. Now if someone plays better than you, he will be given a chance. How hard will it challenge Soumya, what will he do!’

No runs on the bat. Soumya Sarkar continues to practice alone to return to form. Although his team Dhaka Dominators has been knocked out in the BPL, he is constantly shaking himself in the academy ground in Mirpur in the hope of getting himself back again. And to correct the mistakes, for the time being, his teacher is The Dominators’ batting analyst Chaitanya.

After the DPL-NCL, Soumya’s bat did not laugh in the BPL. The average in 11 matches is less than 14. Fifty is just one.

Like Soumya, his team Dhaka Dominators has also played in the BPL. Being knocked out of the tournament, their last match was just about the rules. So the practice phase of this franchise is over for now.

Although the team did not practice, Soumya sweated it out. Chaitanya Vallu was showing his mistakes at the academy ground. This Indian batting analyst of The Dominators mainly works for the IPL team Sunrisers Hyderabad.

With the opportunity to rest in Dhaka, Tiger Batter approached Chaitanya. In a long period of training, starting from batting stances, he has also made shot selections.

Soumya passed his best under Chandika Hathurusingha. In the 50-over format, playing 31 innings, he scored thousands of runs. His batting rampage against Pakistan-South Africa in Mirpur still suffers from nostalgia. However, the more time he has spent in his career, the more the cricketer has lost himself.

At this declining time of Soumya’s career, chandika’s return to the charge, for the time being, is the only relief news. If you call your favorite student to the national team without calculating the statistics, then once again, ‘The Old-Classic Soumya Sarkar’.

There was no challenging capital on the scoreboard. Shakib Al Hasan’s Fortune Barisal had to pay for that. After excellent bowling, Dhaka Dominators blew away Shakib with great batting. On the last day of the Sylhet phase, Barisal won the toss and went into bat, scoring 156 runs for 8 wickets. Chasing the run, Dhaka left the field with a 5-wicket win with 7 balls in hand.

With this victory, Dhaka has risen from the bottom of the points table to fifth place in the points table by collecting 6 points from 10 matches. On the other hand, Barisal is in second place in the points table after collecting 12 points from 9 matches. Mohammad Mithun-Soumya Sarkar’s opening partnership of 74 runs laid the foundation for the win. Soumya got out after playing a stormy inning of 37 runs off 22 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes but Mithun made his fifty.

He scored a maximum of 54 runs off 36 balls from his bat. His innings consisted of 6 fours and 3 sixes. Nasir scored 20 runs and left the field winning the team. Apart from this, Abdullah Al Mamun scored 26 runs and Alex Blake scored 15 runs. Shakib and Sanjamul took the maximum of 2 wickets each for Barisal. Earlier, Barisal’s run rate decreased after losing a few doors after coming down to bat.

Fortune Barisal overcame the shock with Mahmud Ullah’s cameo at the end after Enamul Haque Vijay’s maximum run. The target is 157 runs. Barisal scored 42 runs without losing any wickets in the power play. Barisal lost their first wicket two balls after the end of the power play. Then 4 wickets for 66 runs. Barisal had no less difficulty in handling this shock. Enamul Haque Vijay departed after scoring 42 runs in the innings. After losing the fifth wicket for 92 runs, Mahmudullah and Salman Hossain continued to increase the score by batting. Their run in 17 overs is 111 for 5 doors. There was apprehension about the challenging score raising. But the storm came in the next two overs. Salman and Mahmudullah picked up 19 runs off Salman Irshad in the 18th over. In the next over, Mahmudullah was out after hitting the fourth four. His innings of 39 from 27 balls also had two sixes. However, Karim raised a storm as soon as Janat came down. Shariful hit Islam with two sixes and a four in three consecutive balls. 20 runs came in the 19th over. Salman returned with 14 runs off 12 balls in the first ball of the last over. Mohammad Wasim and Karim could not capitalize on the remaining five balls, only 6 runs came in that over for another wicket. Karim was run out in the last ball, he scored 17 runs in 5 balls at a strike rate of 340. There were 1 four and 2 sixes in the innings.

According to the country’s renowned coach, there is a problem with the benign mentality. He also has technical problems. However, Salahuddin believes that it is possible to get the 30-year-old cricketer out of this situation. At the press conference after the first match of the day on Thursday, Salahuddin said, “There is nothing impossible! Mominul Haque has not scored runs in the last year. I’ve seen him too closely. If Mominul can come back, it is also possible for Soumya. Maybe you have to take care of him a little better. Someone has to take responsibility for him. Because there is no one with such boys. He has to be a good guide. ‘

Soumya is now 30 years old. However, Salahuddin is in favor of giving more time to Soumya, ‘Take a little more time … He has some technical problems. If he can fix them, I think it’s possible for him to come back too. Once you have done well in international cricket, you will never forget that. He may not have forgotten. Maybe he has some mental problems, some technical problems. There has to be someone next to him. You have to give him a long time. I think he can come back. ‘

A section of the country’s cricket analysts claims that the problem of opening can be overcome to some extent with Soumya, known as a hard-hitter.

After the extreme failure of Bangladesh in the Asia Cup, there was a demand in the country’s cricket field that Soumya Sarkar should be included in the upcoming T20 World Cup squad. After that, Soumya really got a chance in the World Cup standby team. The question of why he was not included in the 15-member main team became a big question. Finally, Soumya was given a chance in the two-match T20 series against the United Arab Emirates. But in the first match, Soumya was not seen in the XI. Sabbir Rahman and Mehidy Miraz were the two openers in the Asia Cup.

Cricket fans question, why is Soumya not in the XI? Sabbir-Miraz, who was promoted to the opening from the lower middle order, failed as usual. Sabbir returned with a ‘duck’ and Miraz scored 12 runs off 14 balls. Of course, no one can be called a failure in both matches. However, despite the ‘impact’ that Sreedharan Sriram talks about, there is not a single drop of it between the two. Bangladesh will face UAE in the second match on Tuesday. Will this match see a change in the opening pair? Or will THE BCB continue like this till the World Cup?

For this reason, the once stylish opener can have regrets about himself. However, his bat was laughing in the series-deciding match. But there is also an increase in regret. The third unofficial ODI against The West Indies ‘A’ team has been abandoned due to rain. After a long time, the rain ended it all in the match to get himself back!

West Indies won the toss and batted first in St Lucia on Saturday and scored 238 runs in the stipulated 50 overs. Pacer Rezaur Rahman Raja took 4 wickets. Pacer Mrityunjay took two wickets.

Chasing 239 runs, Bangladesh scored 61 runs for 3 wickets in 15.4 overs. Half of these runs are from opener Soumya Sarkar. After that, the game could not start. When the match was declared abandoned, the series was confirmed to be a 1-1 draw. Soumya Sarkar remained unbeaten on 30 off 42 balls with 4 fours.

Soumya can burn with regret about this. Because if he played a big inning, his demand to return to the national team after not being in the Asia Cup would have been strong. But the rainwater washed away hope.

The short score:
West Indies ‘A’ team: 238/9 in 50 overs (Chanderpaul 43, Joshua 23, Bishop 60, Greaves 36, Imlak 14, Athanez 6, Springer 23, Charles 3, Philip 0, Lewis 9*, Mindley 7*; Mukidul 1/51, Khaled 2/43, Raja 4/50, Rakibul 1/45).

Bangladesh ‘A’ team: 61/3 in 15.4 overs (Nayeem Sheikh 3, Soumya 30*, Saif 2, Mithun 20, Shahadat 1*; Lewis 2/18, Springer 1/1).

Result: The match was abandoned due to rain.