Rony making his second coming count

Rony Talukdar was called up to the national team in 2015. However, only one Twenty20 International later, his international career had come to a stop.

In Bangladesh, it’s a rare incident for someone to come back to the fray after a long hiatus. Often, small breaks turn permanent.

Rony, though, refused to give up. The right-handed batter kept performing, and after eight years out, Rony finally made his return to the national team.

And since his return, the 32-year-old has not looked back as he has been performing in the exact manner the Bangladesh side are trying to emulate on the pitch and on Monday, he picked up his first-ever Player of the Match award for his 67-run innings from 38 balls.

His innings consisted of seven fours and three sixes, and on the way, he picked up his fifty off 24 balls, the fourth-quickest for Bangladesh.

The knock personified the new intent that the Tigers are trying to display, of all-out attack from the start as he and Liton Das added 81 runs in the powerplay, the highest in Bangladesh history.

Rony’s innings set the tone for Bangladesh as they were on target to make their biggest score in T20Is, which they could not due to rain.

Since he returned to the national side against England, Rony has constantly shown signs of his ability. He came into the fray on the back of a brilliant Bangladesh Premier League campaign, where he amassed 425 runs to end up as the second-highest run-scorer.

In the four matches for the Tigers, he has scored 21, 9, 24, and 67. In all four matches, he has shown the intent to attack from the start and utilise the powerplay rather than holding back, which has now played a crucial part in Bangladesh picking up four T20I wins on the trot.

The day, though, did not end on a high for him as he injured his shoulder trying to stop a boundary during the final over of the Ireland innings, which resulted in him being unable to take his first Player of the Match award in international cricket.

However, both Rony and Bangladesh will hope that his injury is a minor one and that he can return soon, and keep scoring runs as he has.

Because Rony’s return signified that if perseverance pays off, and he will not want that payout to end so soon.