Wasim Jaffer helps Soumya Sarkar regain form just ahead of the World Cup

Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarkar has found his form just before the all-important World Cup, set to be played in England and Wales. The left-handed batsman was in sensational form for his domestic side Abahani Limited in the recently-concluded Dhaka Premier League. The return to form will be a great boost for Bangladesh as they will be eyeing to replicate their 2017 Champions Trophy heroics in the World Cup.

Not very long ago, Soumya was hogging the limelight for all the wrong reasons as he struggled to score. In the last edition of the Bangladesh Premier League, he was even dropped by Rajshahi Kings after managing just 35 runs in 5 games. He then scored an impressive century in the Hamilton Test against New Zealand but had managed just 52 runs in the preceding three-match ODI series.

Soumya started the DPL in the same manner too and was looking awfully out of touch. In the first eleven games of the competition, he had managed just one fifty before roaring back to form.  The left-hander smashed a hundred against Legends of Rupganj and followed that up with a record double hundred against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club to propel Abahani Limited to their 20th title. Soumya became the first Bangladesh batsman to score a double-century in a List A match.

And an Indian has played an important role in Soumya’s remarkable turnaround. Abahani’s experienced star and former India opener Wasim Jaffer saw Soumya in the nets and gave his some during an extensive net session at the indoor academy on April 20. On the very following day, he scored a century against Rupganj to keep Abahani’s title hopes alive before smashing the double ton that included 14 fours and 16 sixes.

“For the last couple of matches, I am looking at him closely from the sidelines. I noticed a few things about his batting and then I asked the coach if I can have a look at him before the Rupganj game,” Jaffer told Cricbuzz.

“I worked out on some of his technical things but most importantly I tried to work out on the mental side of his batting. When you are not scoring runs, a lot of things goes around your mind and it prevents you from taking a positive approach because you are not thinking in the right process all the time,” he added. “The good thing is that whatever I told him he tried to implement in the middle and on a good batting track, he made the most out of it.”.

‘Jaffer – a good player’:

Back in the form now, Soumya Sarkar hailed Jaffer as a ‘very good and experienced player’.  The Bangladesh player said that he tried to learn from India’s cricketing legend.

“I have seen his (Wasim) batting very closely. He is a very good and experienced player. He scored 40 thousand runs in his career. Since he scored such amount of runs, so he definitely has the quality,” said Soumya.

“I have understood how he thinks in the field and outside the field. I also follow his way of batting. I talked with him about this, nothing more than that and just tried to follow his instructions,” he added.

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