To become a big team, success in ICC events is a must: Soumya

Bangladesh team did not indulge in extravagant celebrations after securing the series against Australia on Thursday following five-wicket victory in the second ODI of the three-match series in rain-interrupted match. Instead, a video revealed the cricketers engaging in an intense self-assessment inside the dressing room.

Even pacer Mustafizur Rahman, known to be a man of few words, pointed out the team's shortcomings and urged his teammates to strive towards becoming a truly big team.

Opener Soumya Sarkar echoed those sentiments during a press conference at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur today ahead of Sunday's final ODI.

According to the left-handed batter, the world will only take notice when the team performs consistently in major tournaments.

Since 2015, Bangladesh have performed exceptionally well in bilateral ODI series, defeating every visiting side on home soil except England. However, that dominance has been sorely missing in the World Cup, Champions Trophy and Asia Cup.

Mustafizur highlighted a key deficiency during his dressing-room speech, referring to the second ODI where Australia managed to put together a century stand despite being reduced to five wickets for a modest total. In his view, a truly elite side would have handled such a situation differently.

The Bangladesh team is currently building towards the 2027 ODI World Cup. Soumya believes that while there is joy in winning bilateral series at home, the team must remain realistic about proving their worth in the tougher challenges that lie ahead.

Aligning himself with Mustafizur's sentiments, Soumya said: "Whenever a World Cup ends, the team starts planning afresh on how to do better in the next one. What Mustafizur Rahman said is absolutely right. To become a big team, performing well in ICC events is a must. Therefore, we also want to achieve something significant as a unit in a major tournament so that we can take the team to a much higher level."

Soumya was left out of the playing XI in the first ODI. He was also not considered for the starting XI initially during the previous series against New Zealand despite being the team's best batter in the preceding assignment.

This time, after being sidelined at the start, an opportunity opened up following Saif Hassan's failure. Returning to the side, he scored 42 runs under challenging conditions. Although he missed the chance to convert it into a bigger score, he now wants to rectify his shortcomings and come back even stronger.

The third ODI will begin at 11:00am on Sunday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. Having already secured the series by winning the first two matches, Bangladesh are now eyeing a whitewash.

Soumya is in favour of fielding the strongest possible combination rather than opting for experimentation in the final game.

"That is a management decision [who will play]. Still, if you ask me, I would say it is better not to experiment because we are playing against a very big team. A 3-0 result would be a massive achievement. So, the best players should be fielded," Soumya concluded.