'It's a habit that I do not celebrate a lot'

What's the difference between playing club cricket and international cricket? Ask Bangladesh's newest batting sensation Soumya Sarkar and he will sum it up in a line.

"When I play club cricket I tell myself that I need to play in this particular position or else I won't be able to play, but when I play for my country, I'll play wherever they ask me to… there's no choice," chuckled a calm and composed Soumya while speaking to reporters after the third ODI against Pakistan at Mirpur yesterday.

Not only can the 22-year-old blow your mind away with an array of strokeplay, he has got a sense of humour as well; a good one at that.

Bangladesh's latest centurion provided an exhibition of shots yesterday. You would visit youtube, watch his highlights a number of times, in order to decide which one you enjoyed the most.

Be it the down-the-track loft over long off or the perfectly timed cut through point or be it the cross-batted punches, some of which went all the way or the gaps that drilled through fine-leg with his late hits, almost every shot would make you twitch your eye and move around in your seat in excitement.

While the innings compelled most of the 24,000 spectators forget their assigned seats and stands -- some might have even misplaced their relatives; for Soumya, Wednesday night was just another night in the park. There were no special plans; no special intent. All he wanted to do was be a witness to this terrific whitewash.

"There was no different plan. I tried to play my natural game. But once I reached the 40s, Tamim bhai told me to play a big knock… he said if I stay till the end I will experience a different kind of enjoyment.

"I was getting starts [before this match] but got out in the 20s and 30s. I talked to my elder brothers and they asked me to just keep playing my natural game and then I would be able to overcome it.

"So I started similarly today. And then when I saw my score for the first time, I had already scored 18 runs. And that's when I realised I was doing well. I didn't do anything differently today. I just managed to finish well," a calm and composed Soumya said while explaining his knock.

While his strokeplay was exciting, his celebration, after he reached the three-figure mark, barely depicted a similar approach. After pulling a six just above the outstretched hands of the mid-wicket fielder, all Soumya did was take a few steps towards the dressing room almost as though he was confused with regards to the ball crossing the boundary-line.

It was only after Mushfiqur Rahim repeatedly clapped for him that he, almost reluctantly, raised his bat.

"It's a habit that I don't celebrate a lot even after doing something big. The shot I played didn't go too far and I didn't know if it would go all the way. And then I had cramped immediately. When I saw the ball go all the way, that cramp surprisingly went away… maybe because I was really happy.

"At the end of the day, I think I celebrated a lot more than I expected," smiled Soumya.

When asked as to whether he thought twice about reaching his century with a big shot, Soumya replied, "When I was in the 90s, I never really was worried about losing my wicket. I just wanted to play naturally. Scoring a 50 or a 100 was not in my mind. I tried to finish the game the way I started it. I had started it with a four."