If I perform, I will stay: Soumya

Soumya Sarkar had been called 'coach's favourite' when Chandika Hathurusinghe was coach of the Bangladesh cricket team but after Hathurusinghe's resignation, there is speculation that Soumya's position in the team is set to become unstable.

The left-handed opener said that his position in the team will remain secure if he performs upto expectations.

While speaking to reporters, Soumya suggested that he could not achieve his targets this year and that he would like to fare better in the future.

"If I perform, I will stay. I do not know who likes me," Soumya said when it was suggested to him that he was 'Hathurusinghe's favourite'.

"People can say a lot of things and speculate. Even in a classroom, a teacher does not like everyone and the teacher may pick on a certain student if they don't like him/her.

"If I didn't play well then I would not have been brought into the team and I would not have been liked."

He suggested that the coach only liked him because he was able to do something well.

In recent times, Soumya did not manage to convert any of his starts into bigger scores. He has gotten out in the 30's and 40's and the batsman himself was concerned. However, he did not feel that he was getting out after becoming set in the crease.

"It's not like that. Some batsmen struggle at the beginning of an innings. For me it probably starts from the 30s. I can't say for sure what is happening in my case. I'm getting out differently each day. Maybe because I am changing my plans.

"I am thinking about the team and if I play at a slow rate then the team's position will be slow. If I was only thinking of myself then it might be easier to overcome these problems."

Bangladesh team are going to start their training camp tomorrow (December 27) in order to prepare for the Tri-Nation series and the home series against Sri Lanka.