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Sanju Samson's ‘scratchy knock’ gets wake-up call for mid-120 strike rate against Oman: ‘It wasn’t as fluent as…’
Wasim Jaffer pointed out that Samson wasn't at his fluent best on Friday, which can be suggested from his strike rate, which was under 125.
Sanju Samson finally got the chance to bat in the Asia Cup 2025, with Suryakumar Yadav deciding to promote the wicketkeeper batter up in the batting order against Oman. Samson lost his opening position to Shubman Gill, but the team management showed faith in him by placing him in the middle order during India’s first two matches of the tournament, where he didn’t get an opportunity to bat. He came out to bat at number 3 on Friday night and scored a half-century, but his strike rate of 124.44 came under the scanner as it doesn't sync well with India's fearless batting approach, which they adopted since last year's T20 World Cup triumph.
While India kept losing wickets from the other end, Samson stood tall and slammed a 41-ball half-century after slicing the ball towards the square for a boundary. He was dismissed by Faisal on 56, which included three sixes and three fours as India posted 188/8.
Former India opener Wasim Jaffer pointed out that Samson wasn't at his fluent best on Friday, which can be suggested from his strike rate, which was under 125.
"It wasn’t as fluent as Sanju generally bats. His strike rate was in the mid-120s. Generally, he has a higher strike rate," Jaffer said on ESPNCricinfo.
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“Would have liked to see Samson bat at No. 5 or No. 6”
Jaffer described Samson’s knock against Oman as a “scratchy” but at the same time defended him. He noted that facing lesser-known associate bowlers can be tricky despite appearances. Jaffer also suggested Samson would be better suited to batting at No. 5 or No. 6 in the upcoming matches.
"That can happen against associate teams. When you don’t know the bowlers, lack of pace can do you in. It can be a little difficult. It might look easy, but it is not. It was a scratchy innings. I am happy that he got runs, but I would have liked to see him bat at No. 5 or No. 6 because he is going to play in that situation in the next three games," he added.
Meanwhile, India went on to beat spirited Oman by 21 runs to end their league stage commitments in Asia Cup with a hat-trick of victories. In less than 48 hours, Suryakumar Yadav and Co. will once again lock horns with Pakistan in the Super 4s in Dubai and before that Indian skipper rightly decided to give his other 10 colleagues a hit in the middle while pushing himself down to number 11.
