Five-Year Wait Ends: Soumya Sarkar Returns to Bangladesh Test Team
Soumya Sarkar will play for Bangladesh’s Test cricket team again. This is his first call-up in over five years. Selectors chose him because of his strong domestic performance. They also valued his experience against fast bowling. Bangladesh will play a series in Australia next month.
Habibul Bashar is Bangladesh’s chief selector. He said injuries made team selection difficult. Matches played by the Bangladesh A team also influenced some choices. Soumya last played a Test in February 2021 against the West Indies. He performed very well in domestic cricket recently.
Soumya scored 633 runs last season. He played seven matches in the National Cricket League. This is Bangladesh’s top first-class competition. He was the leading run-scorer. Soumya takes the place of Mahmudul Hasan Joy.
Mahmudul Hasan Joy will now join the Bangladesh A squad. His recent Test form was not strong. He scored only one fifty in his last six Test innings. Four of these innings ended in single digits.
Towhid Hridoy was also left out of the team. He made 2 and 9 runs on his Test debut last month against Zimbabwe. Mr. Bashar said Mehidy Hasan Miraz is back. This left little room for Hridoy in the main playing eleven.
However, selectors still see Hridoy as a future Test player. Mr. Bashar said the four-day matches will help Hridoy develop. Mahidul Islam, a wicketkeeper-batter, will also play for Bangladesh A. He missed out on the Australia squad.
Jaker Ali has returned to the Test squad. This is his first call-up since June last year. Mr. Bashar said Jaker Ali found his form again. This happened through the High Performance programme.
Bangladesh will start their two-Test series against Australia on August 13. The first match is in Darwin. The second Test begins on August 22 in Mackay. The Bangladesh A team will play four-day matches against South Africa Emerging. These games start on August 16 and August 23.
The full Bangladesh Test squad includes: Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Soumya Sarkar, Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Amite Hasan, Jaker Ali, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Musfik Hasan.
