Batsman Soumya Sarkar said on Wednesday that he is looking forward for an opportunity to prove himself in Test format during the forthcoming home series against Australia.
Soumya, who had been quite a revelation in the shorter format cricket for his batting, is yet to make a mark in his fledging three-Test career that earned him just 107 runs.While he averages 49.42 in his one-day international career from 16 matches till date, the elegant left-hander is yet to get a kick-start in his Test career having averaged only 21.40 in five innings.
As a result he was overlooked for the last two Tests against South Africa.
‘I am working on how to cement myself in Test side. I need to prove myself in Tests that I am yet to do. If I can do that hopefully things will be much easier in the coming days,’ he said.
Soumya, who rose to the prominence for his fearless approach, said that he is trying to learn how to adapt in both the versions without compromising his stroke-playing ability.
‘Test cricket is different from ODIs and has its own beauty. I have to play my natural game. But Test cricket has a separate demand which I need to fulfill,’ he said.
Soumya, a top-order batsman in limited over cricket, batted down the order in Tests, mostly at number seven, but the 22-year old left-hander said he is not too much concerned about it.
‘I don’t have any issues with that as my primary goal is to play at any position,’ he said.
‘It’s difficult to bat at seven or eight. You can play your shots if there is a batsman around while you need to play differently if you are playing with the tail-enders.
‘There is a big scope to take up the responsibility batting out there because different situation turns up at different points. I enjoy playing in such conditions,’ he said.
Soumya said that playing in the National Cricket League will help the Tigers prepare better.
‘I think it’s a good opportunity for us because it’s always helpful to play matches ahead of a series,’ said Soumya.
‘The preparation gets better,’ he said.
Soumya added that playing against Australia would help the team know their position at this point of time while he is looking forward to play against them personally.
Australia is due to arrive on September 28 to play two-Test series against Bangladesh.
‘I am always eager to play against Australia as well as some other countries,’ said Soumya.
‘We were supposed to play them in the World Cup but could not do so,’ he said.
‘Now there are Test matches and if we can play it will help us to understand our performance graph,’ he said.
-With New Age input