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Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarkar plays a shot during the fourth T20I against Zimbabwe at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Friday. Photo: Tanvin Tamim
Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarkar repaid the faith of the team management as he proved his match fitness in the fourth T20I against Zimbabwe at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Friday.
Bangladesh were desperately looking for a stable opening partnership and they opted to drop out of form Liton Das to pave the ways for Soumya, who made a comeback after recovering from a knee injury that he sustained during the last ODI against Sri Lanka in March.
The southpaw did not disappoint the team management as he along with inform Tanzid Hasan Tamim put up 101 runs in their opening stand before the latter got out making 52 runs.
Soumya did not last long as he departed three balls later as Luke Jongwe trapped him plumb in front after making 34-ball 41 that included three fours and two sixes.
Bangladesh hardly failed to capitalize on the opening stand as they managed to put only 35 runs on the board with the remaining eight wickets.
It was certainly disappointing as Bangladesh came up with a pathetic batting display but that could hardly take away anything from Soumya as he showed that management did not do anything wrong by backing him despite his injury.
Soumya, who played second fiddle to Tanzid, finally began to come out of his shell with a reverse sweep six over third-man in the seventh over spinner Brian Bennett to pick up his first boundary and since hitting that six, Soumya started to regain his confidence and made the opposition pay with some striking shots.
Soumya knew that he needed to deliver and he did that at the right time as team management was waiting for his match fitness before announcing the 15-member squad for the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup.
Soumya showed composure in the middle when Tanzid was hitting the ball all over the park and did not try to match him before settling down.
His 34-ball 41 not only helped Bangladesh post their only third 100-run opening partnership in the shortest format but also in the process, they heaved a sigh of relief as their openers eventually clicked after a while.