Afif meeting expectations, says Bashar

Afif Hossain, who was recently dropped from the national team in both One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals, is meeting expectations with his batting in the ongoing Dhaka Premier League, according to Bangladesh national team selector Habibul Bashar.

Afif, who had been a regular feature for the Tigers in limited-overs cricket since 2021, was dropped from both formats in March following a disappointing run of form. He was also not picked for Bangladesh’s upcoming three-match series against Ireland in May.

However, since being dropped, Afif has displayed some good form in DPL for Abahani Limited as he has scored 268 runs in six innings, averaging 53.6 with a strike rate of 124.65.

According to Bashar, Afif is on the right path.

“He (Afif) is doing what he was asked to. Let’s see what happens in the future. He is meeting expectations. When someone gets dropped from the national team, they are expected to score in the domestic circuit so that they can return with confidence. We have a lot of matches in front of us. We need those outside the national team to be in form,” the former Bangladesh skipper said.

“Afif has been performing while playing in the top order. There is a long way ahead. I believe he will serve the national team for a long time,” a hopeful Bashar added.

However, while Afif has been scoring runs, Soumya Sarkar, who played in the last T20 World Cup, has found it difficult to score runs for Mohammedan.

The left-handed batter has only scored 161 runs in eight innings so far, averaging 20.13 with a strike rate of 80.1.

Bashar, expectedly, was disappointed with the batter’s run of form.

“We are not getting the expected results from Soumya. He was in the national team a few days back. He has played match-winning knocks for Bangladesh. But he is not meeting expectations now. He is in our thoughts. We have no questions about his ability. But a tad disappointed (with his performance), obviously,” Bashar told the media.