Soumya eyes home series win against Lankans

Dhaka — Bangladesh left-handed top-order batsman Soumya Sarkar has said that he is not bothered much about what has happened in the New Zealand tour earlier this year, he rather is looking forward to winning the home series against Sri Lanka later in May.

Bangladesh national team is currently gearing up for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka starting from May 23. Soumya missed the two-match Test series against the same opponent which was played recently.

“We have been working hard to forget what we have done in New Zealand. We are looking forward to doing well in the home series against Sri Lanka,” Soumya told the reporters on Wednesday.

“Every series is important for us. We are hopeful of keeping the title of the home series at the home and we will come up with a good brand of cricket,” he added.

Bangladesh played the last ODI series in New Zealand. The hosts won the series 3-0. Bangladesh failed to pose any strong challenge in that series. During that contest, Bangladesh missed the service of the ace allrounder Shakib Al Hasan who was on leave. But he is set to join the team in this home series.

“It’s a big thing that we will get the service of Shakib back,” Soumya added. “And we will also have the service of Mustafizur (Rahman) who was playing well in IPL. They are set to make a comeback together. I hope they will complete the series well.”

The Tigers played a three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka in 2019 in Sri Lanka which the hosts won 3-0. Soumya believes if Bangladesh can play according to their ability, the series would be an exciting one.

“When we take the field we eye to win. In this series, we will go match by match. At first, we have to win the opening game, then we will try to win the second one,” Soumya added.

Soumya played 61 ODIs till the date but failed to cement his place in the national team. He scored 1768 runs in an average of 32.14 with two centuries and 11 fifties. He also bagged 11 wickets with the best of 3 for 56.UNB