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'Sanju ain't Rishabh Pant. His batting is completely different': Ex-Pakistan star baffled by Samson's batting spot vs WI
Sanju Samson squandered a good opportunity to make an impact as he perished for just 12 in the ODI series opener on Friday.
Sanju Samson was batting on 12 when he got dismissed off a Romario Shepherd delivery. He challenged the decision with a review but it was to no avail as it was “umpire's call”, which led to his early exit in India's ODI series opener against West Indies on Friday. The right-handed batter squandered a good opportunity to make an impact, especially when almost every fringe player is staring at a spot in the World T20 squad.
On Sunday, the spotlight will again be on Samson, who has blown hot and cold in the India jersey. He has played two ODIs and 14 Twenty20 games and scored 58 and 251 runs, respectively. A big knock is always due from a player of his quality but former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria believes Samson should not be pushed ahead of Deepak Hooda, who has been enjoying a phenomenal run of late.
Hooda came after Samson in the 1st ODI and perished after scoring a sedate 27. Kaneria said Samson was sent ahead of the in-form batter – the same gambit that the Indian team management used for Rishabh Pant.
"Samson got another chance but he didn't look special. He looked dull before Romario Shepherd got him out. But once again, I will talk about Hooda. Why did he bat down the order? Shreyas and Suryakumar are okay at No. 2 and 3 spots respectively, but Hooda should have come ahead of Samson. India pushed Samson up the order the same way as Rishabh Pant. But Samson ain't Pant. His batting is completely different," said Kaneria on his YouTube channel.
"Hooda should bat up the order. He is a fantastic player who is in great form as well. India shouldn't meddle with his batting position," he added.
Despite being quiet with the willow, Samson pulled off a crucial save behind the stumps. Bowler Mohammed Siraj strayed on the leg side while bowling to Caribbean batter Romario Shephard but Samson was quick to dive to his left and get his hand on the ball. India went on to win the series opener by three runs, with Siraj conceding just a single on the last ball.
India put up 308-7, thanks to captain Shikhar Dhawan's 97 and fifties from Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, while West Indies' chase ended on a tense 305-6.
“We had confidence and belief that Siraj could defend 15 runs in the final over because of the way he was bowling his yorkers. In his previous two overs as well, he had missed hardly one or two yorkers. There was confidence, but also pressure because of the way they (West Indies) were batting.”
"When Sanju Samson made that save on the wide ball, it raised our confidence," Yuzvendra Chahal, who bowled crucial overs under pressure and returned 2/58 in his 10, said in a post-match press conference.
