India vs Bangladesh 2017: Why Soumya Sarkar must be in the playing XI against India

It is a common conception that batsmen with good batting technique are the only ones who should be considered to play Test games. Take, for example, Rahul Dravid. The Indian under-19 coach was one of the finest exponents of the longest version of the game—and his technique was the biggest reason as to why some give him a higher place than even Sachin Tendulkar.

With an unorthodox back-lift, his bat was like a wall that defended the wicket. It is thus, no wonder, then, as to why he was bestowed with the tag of ‘The Wall’ by the aficionados in the cricket fraternity. His defence was like the Great Wall of China, so apparent and mesmerising that it catches one’s eyes from far away.

The same Indian team had another player who was the polar opposite of Rahul Dravid but was perhaps more impactful than him: Virender Sehwag.

Sehwag was one of a kind. He was never known for his technique and he never really cared about it anyway. He was the perfect epitome of a gully cricket batsman—someone who rarely uses his foot while batting and relies heavily on hand-eye coordination to get things done.

According to ‘Viru’ himself, all he ever did was look at the ball and smash it without thinking about foot movement and the other technical issues. In of the commercials he starred in back in the day, there was a line where he says, “khich ke balla zor se ball ko mar bhagao, ball ka ghar hain boundary waha usse pohchao,” which translates to, “swash the bat with venom to send the ball away, the ball’s home is the boundary, make it reach its place.”

This line perfectly described the mentality of the former Indian cricketer.

Bangladesh need Sarkar for more than mere technique

The Indian team doesn’t have a player like him anymore. However, when they line up to play a Test against Bangladesh in a sole encounter, they might find a left-handed version of their former star batting against them.

Or, at least, they should, for Soumya Sarkar should be picked in the starting XI against India.

Sarkar has been with the national team for quite a while now and hasn’t yet found himself playing in as many Tests as he would have liked. And, to be fair to him, it perhaps isn’t his fault either.

The thing that makes Sarkar such a danger in the shorter version of the game was the reason for the neglect that he faced at the hands of the Test selectors: his powerful stroke-play with minimal foot movement.

Like Sehwag, Sarkar isn’t too concerned about getting his technique right. All he does is look at the ball and use his hands to make the ball reach the fence. The foot movement is little or nothing, but he gets the job done—and the year 2015 showed us just that.

A Testing tale

However, whenever he got a chance in the Test team, it was as a number 7 batsman, something which further depreciated his chances to do well in the longest version of the game. You can’t expect a top order batsman to be at his best playing in the lower order.

And he failed. Sarkar could hardly do what he did best, and his Test career was in jeopardy.

Life is ironical. When Sarkar was playing the best cricket of his life, rocking the ODI scene with his composed fury, he never got a chance to show his worth playing as a top order batsman in Tests. And just when he was going through a rough patch, an injury to Imrul Kayes meant that he got the chance that he needed.

And he grabbed it with both hands.

In his first Test as an opening batsman, he scored 86 and 36 in the first and second innings, respectively. The first innings score came at a strike-rate of 82.69, making it a very Sehwag-esque inning. In the second innings, he tried to be more cautious and lost his wicket while he was looking to just get in; reiterating to us yet again that playing defensive is just not his thing.

And he shouldn’t be playing that way either. Sehwag never did.

Sehwag never cared about what people would say about his aggressive approach. Sehwag never cared about what the selectors thought. Sehwag never cared about the intricacies of batting. All he ever focused on was plying his natural trade and look where it got him.

He is among only four batsmen to have scored more than one 300 in a Test inning. He was criticised for his recklessness, be it for getting out on 195 against Australia after trying to hit a six or blowing away a chance to score a third triple hundred by getting out for 293 against Sri Lanka. He just never cared about what others said and did what he does best.

Sarkar must also follow a similar path and the selectors should also give him the freedom to. Test cricket might be a game of patience and temperament that tests the true defensive skills of the batsman, but sometimes, attack can be the best form of defence—and, oh boy, Sarkar can attack.

Soumya Sarkar should be given a top order slot—preferably, opening—regardless of how good the others are playing. He might not have the temperament or the technique to save a game from the jaws of defeat like Rahul Dravid did so many times for India, but he has the force of nature to win games for his country with aggressive batting, just like Virender Sehwag.