'Maybe you don't like me or understand cricket': Sohan retorts to journalist's question

Despite having an experienced star cricketer like Shakib Al Hasan, the Rangpur Riders chose Nurul Hasan Sohan as their captain this time. This wicketkeeper-batsman is handling the leadership with responsibility. Although he did not perform brilliantly with the bat, he played some effective innings'. However, he failed to score well in the last three matches. On that matter, Sohan lost his temper at the pre-match press conference when responding to a question from a journalist. He commented that the journalist asked such a question because he did not like him or did not understand cricket.

Rangpur confirmed their playoffs spot by finishing first in the league table of the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). Sohan batted in 12 league matches for the team and batted in the middle order, he scored 207 runs in 12 innings at an average of 25.87 with no half-centuries and a highest score of 46. However, he scored 5, 2 and 2 runs in the last three matches respectively.

Sohan, who has failed in three consecutive matches, went to the nets a little earlier than the others in Rangpur's practice session at the Bashundhara Sports Complex on Sunday. Ranpur have a Qualifier match against Comilla Victorians on Monday at Mirpur and Soahn took extra time to bat in the nets ahead of the big game. Noticing the matter, a journalist asked him, whether he was in the nets longer than the others to get back among the runs.

Sohan didn't let the question finish, the Rangpur captain said, "Do you mean I have not been scoring runs in any of the 12 matches? I contributed with runs in five matches, you see? Maybe you don't like me or don't understand the game. If you understand the game you will see the statistics of the position where I am playing. What position did I bat in, and how many runs did I score? You should see them and then ask questions."

Comilla, their opponents are four-time BPL winners - the highest among all BPL franchises - and are the defending champs. As expected, they are in great from this time around too. Sohan wants to play his best cricket here, "I played well in the whole tournament. But I think a lot depends on how much input I can give on that particular day of the qualifier. Of course, Comilla are a good team, but we will try to give our best."

The captain of Rangpur wants to reach the final with a team performance: "Of course, cricket is always a team game, and we cannot just rely on individuals. We are doing well as a team. Everyone in the team is trying to play well. We will try to do the same in the Qualifier, so that we can give the best here."