Soumya Sarkar looked in sublime touch at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Tuesday afternoon, timing the ball sweetly in the nets alongside Afif Hossain and Saif Hassan as Bangladesh sharpened up for the New Zealand ODI series.
That was the encouraging part. The harder truth is that Sarkar’s chances of making the XI for ban vs nz appear slimmer than those around him, even after a career built on bursts of promise and repeated pauses. He shared a social media post on March 14, on the eve of the third ODI against Pakistan, showing himself waiting on the sidelines. For a player who made his ODI debut in 2014, the image fit a familiar theme.
Sarkar, now 33, has played 79 ODIs for Bangladesh since his debut. The team have played 165 ODIs in that span, which means he has been used in less than half of them. Since the 2019 World Cup, Bangladesh have played 88 ODIs and Sarkar has featured in 27, a reminder of how often he has had to fight for a place even when his talent has looked obvious. Last year, he delivered a match-winning knock in a series-deciding game against West Indies, the sort of performance that briefly makes his case feel settled.
Phil Simmons put it plainly on Wednesday. Sarkar, he said, had missed a lot of cricket between West Indies, during the BPL and leading up to BCL, so Bangladesh had to make a call and Tanzid Tamim and Saif Hassan had done well. Mehidy Hasan Miraz had made a similar point a day before the first ODI, saying form matters for a batter and noting that the opening partnership between Tanzid and Saif produced a 100-plus stand in the last series. That leaves Sarkar trying to squeeze back into a crowded opening picture while others keep scoring the runs that matter most to selectors.
The tension for Sarkar is not just competition. An ACL injury against Sri Lanka in Chattogram interrupted his momentum, and a former team management member has said he tends to look far more lively in conditions like New Zealand or Australia. That makes this tour a test of fit as much as form. Bangladesh may yet have one last use for him on the road to the 2027 World Cup, but for now the practice session felt more like a reminder of what he can do than a guarantee of what comes next.
