We're capable of doing well in Champions Trophy: Soumya

CHATTOGRAM, Jan 21 (BSS): Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarkar believes his side has all the ingredients to do well in the upcoming Champions Trophy, which will be held in Pakistan and the UAE next month.

Soumya's confidence stemmed from Bangladesh's excellent outing in the West Indies. In that tour, Bangladesh, though they were swept in the ODI series, reversed the result in the T20 series, a format in which they are always vulnerable.

"If everyone believes we can, then we can," Soumya said here on Tuesday. "But it seemed to me that no one believes that we can do it in the Champions Trophy. There is no necessity to talk negatively in advance. I said from the beginning that if we can do well in three departments, then we can win against any team."

Soumya is currently preparing to take the field in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League for his side, the Rangpur Riders, which won all eight matches to already confirm the playoffs. He was supposed to play from the very beginning of the tournament, but due to sustaining a finger injury during the West Indies tour, he had to be sidelined.

Recently he has started batting in Rangpur's practice session and said the thing is going well for him so far now.

This year's BPL is being played on a wicket that produces runs to such an extent that every team can score 200 with ease. Even the teams are chasing 200 runs effortlessly also.

Everyone will be tempted to bat on such a wicket, and Soumya is no exception. However, he said that he does not regret it as much as he regrets not being able to play yet.

"As a player, being back on the field is the best. There was an injury; it was a bit of a tough time. The hardest part was watching the games sitting at home. I could not play the game; that was the hard part. The game was going on; I wanted to play from the beginning. So there was a regret," he added.

Soumya scored 73 off 73 balls in the last match of the ODI series against the West Indies and then 43 off 32 balls in a T20 match in that series. Overall, the process of coming back to his best was on the way.

In the meantime, he injured his finger and was knocked out of the field. He was also infected with a virus in between.

However, Soumya is now looking ahead without thinking about what has gone on. Whenever he gets a chance, he hopes to start well, he said, adding that "Of course, I cannot forget the reality either."