Soumya remains a force to be reckoned with in T20s

Bangladesh batsman Soumya Sarkar remains a force to be reckoned with in T20 format despite his lack of form in 50-over and Test cricket.

In the lone Test he played in South Africa, Soumya got out on scores of 9 and 3. He also played in a single ODI and scored just 8 runs. Despite his abysmal form he was able to showcase his abilities when the T20s came around.

Soumya's last three T20 scores are 38, 44 and 47 and these scores helped him return among the runs after a pretty poor run with the bat. He scored a 33-ball 38 against Comilla Victorians in yesterdays BPL match. The two-match T20 away series against the Proteas saw Soumya give Bangladesh a rapid start as he hit 31-ball 47 in the first game and a 27-ball 44 in the second match.

He was able to dictate the bowlers at will as his natural game came to the forefront, something that he has failed to coordinate in the larger formats of the game in recent past.

Soumya's natural game is one of controlled aggression and he likes scoring quickly when he can but opponents now also know that cramping him up for room can frustrate the left-hander leading to false shots.

Before the South Africa series, Soumya also gave Bangladesh flying starts in the Sri Lanka T20s – a 20-ball 29 in the first T20 followed by 17-ball 34 in the second T20, which led to Bangladesh posting a formidable total against the Lankans.

In New Zealand, Soumya also hit a rapid 28-ball 42 which and a 26-ball 39 runs which allowed Bangladesh to take the game to the Black Caps even though they did not manage to attain victory.

Soumya's last seven innings:

Thus his last seven T20 scores are – 38(33), 44 (27), 47(31), 34(17), 29(20), 42(28), 39(26).

273 runs scored/209 balls faced

Strike rate: 130.6

Batting average: 39

His record in the last five ODIs stands in stark contrast to his T20 fortunes. His last seven ODI scores are – 8,0,3,3, 28, 0, 87*, the 87 not out came against Ireland in May 2017.

Soumya is well adept at taking the bowlers to the cleaners and putting the pressure on the bowling team right at the start of an innings – a quality that is heavily desired in the shortest format of the game.

One noticeable facet of these last seven innings however is that he did not manage to convert any of his starts into bigger scores. Not one of those great starts were converted into a 50.

Perhaps that is why Soumya was concerned about getting out in the 40's and said that he would have liked to carry on and score more runs after a few decent starts. He has often had the knack of getting out softly and that trait has also surfaced in some recent performances.

He was upset about not carrying on to score more at Potchefstroom and Bloemfontein as well.

Soumya can manage to turn around his and indeed Bangladesh's fortunes if he can manage to turn his 40s into something more formidable. However, Soumya remains a force to be reckoned with in the shortest form of the game where a quickfire innings can make a considerable impact on the team's fortunes.

At the time of writing this report Soumya had already gotten out for seven runs in the BPL match between Chittagong Vikings and Rangpur Riders.