'I want to win the T20 World Cup': Soumya dreaming big despite poor results
The left-handed batter who also bowls medium pace, has also been short of runs in recent times with scores of 20, 0, and 43* in the three T20Is against USA, where Bangladesh shockingly lost the series.
Bangladesh may not be one of the favourites in the ongoing T20 World Cup but Soumya Sarkar has dreams of winning it regardless.
The left-handed batter who also bowls medium pace, has also been short of runs in recent times with scores of 20, 0, and 43* in the three T20Is against USA, where Bangladesh shockingly lost the series.
"If someone asks me what the aim is, I have big dreams and I will say we want to win the World Cup. At first, I will say I want to play in the final and then see what the result is," he said in a video released by the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) socials on Monday morning.
Soumya, now 31, has had a start-stop career and never really managed to solidify his spot in the national team.
He played his first World Cup almost a decade ago, in 2015, but now wants to make 2024 a good year.
"It's a matter of pride to play in the World Cup. I played in the 2015 World Cup, and I have the same excitement going into this one. I want to make 2024 a memorable year. I want to do something good for the country," Soumya expressed.
Despite the criticism that has been following the Bangladesh players, especially their captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, Soumya has backed the all-format captain to come good and for the team to achieve something big if they can gel as a team.
"He (Shanto) is doing everything to keep the team together and motivated. I wish Shanto good luck for the future as captain. If we can all play as a unit and rally together behind the captain as a team, we can do something good," Soumya added.
The southpaw from Satkhira admits that the conditions in the USA will be a challenge and scoring runs there will be the best way to boost his and the morale of the team.
"Scoring runs for the team is the most important thing as a batter. Getting runs will boost our confidence. We didn't play in the USA before so the faster we can cope with the conditions in the USA, the better we can do," Soumya said.
With a good mix of youth and experience in Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah Riyad, Soumya is hoping that Bangladesh will have their best World Cup yet.
"We have some experienced players like Shakib bhai and Mahmudullah bhai so it's a good mix.
I have not done well in the past two World Cups that I played in so the hope is to turn things around this time and make it a memorable tournament for us," he concluded.