The unrest beneath Soumya's first duck

Considering his form with the bat, which has been on the decline for quite some time, it was not surprise to see Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarker score a duck against Afghanistan in Mirpur yesterday.

Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarkar scored his first duck in ODIs after 17 matches at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday. His untimely pull off the third ball he faced produced an edge that merely looped into the hands of the short cover fielder.

Going solely by the opener's ODI numbers so far, a batting average above 46 and a total runs tally of 692, one would expect Soumya to be in phenomenal touch. After all, he does currently have the highest batting average in ODIs among his teammates. However, the fact remains that the left-hander has had an awful past year and the reason that has not received as much focus is because Bangladesh and Soumya have barely played any ODIs in that time.

The poor patch is clear when one observes the left-hander's domestic record.

In the last year, the 23-year-old has had 51 outings and this includes first-class, List A and T20 fixtures. In these 51 outings, Soumya has crossed the 50-run barrier just twice. He scored an 84 against Abahani in the Dhaka Premier League recently. And prior to that he had scored a cautious 58 against Chittagong Vikings in the Bangladesh Premier League in December 2015.

There is no doubt about Soumya's talent. He was one of the reasons why Bangladesh managed to achieve their magical run against Pakistan, India and South Africa in 2015.

The team management reckons that he has the ability to destroy some of the best attacks in the world when on song. However, when he is out of rhythm, he seems a completely different player.

At the moment it seems as though the management is waiting for that one good knock from Soumya; one that can light the fire and help him get his venom back ahead of the England series and next year's Champions trophy.

However, the wait unfortunately has been quite long so far.  Yesterday Bangladesh fielded three players --  Imrul Kayes, Tamim Iqbal and Soumya -- who can open the innings. And it was as a result of that change that Nasir Hossain, an experienced middle-order batsman who averaged 75 in the Dhaka Premier League this season, did not get a place in the eleven.

At the moment, the team management is likely to persist with Soumya. However, if he doesn't mend his ways soon, he might have to take a step back and play the role that the other openers in the team, the likes of Imrul and Anamul Haque, have been playing for so long: knocking at the national door.