Sanju Samson shoved into ‘do-or-die’ spot after back-to-back ducks and drop catch: ‘He debuted 10 years ago and still…’
Coming in for the injured Shubman in the 2nd T20I, Samson was clean bowled first ball and replacing Pant on Tuesday, he slicing to Chamindu Wickramasinghe.
The sands of time are running out Sanju Samson the batter in T20I internationals. For all the cries of justice by his fans on social media, the performances just aren’t living up to the mark. How else do you justify two ducks in a row, especially when the chances of playing in the XI are far and few. A golden duck in the 2nd T20I followed by another zero in 4 balls. If you’re in Samson’s shoes, that’s not the type of numbers one would expect from him given it’s been 10 years he has been around in the Indian team circuit.
Sure, one can argue that Samson hasn’t quite gotten chances regularly and frequently, such as former India pacer Tinu Yohanan, but then again, who among his peers have either? Samson was benched in all of India’s matches at the T20 World Cup, but the management was able to defend its decision as India won the T20 World Cup with Rishabh Pant playing in the XI. And while he did well in that one innings in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka has been a complete letdown. Coming in for the injured Shubman Gill in the 2nd T20I, Samson was clean bowled first ball and replacing Rishabh Pant on Tuesday, he slicing to Chamindu Wickramasinghe.
As Yohanan insists, Samson finds himself in a spot, where any and every match could be his last, and truth be told, where is the lie?
"He debuted about 10 years ago and after that he has been (playing) on and off. He didn’t get a long run at any time. Each game is like a do-or-die game for him. Almost every time when he walks out to bat, he goes into pressure situations. He has to be given a long run somewhere down the line. He needs backing,” the former Kerala pacer told RevSportz.
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Surprisingly enough, Samson doesn’t look as clueless when he is representing Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. Call it the responsibility of captaining the team or whatever, Samson, more often than not, lights up the IPL, but fails to replicate it in the IPL. Every batter from the Indian team has played at least a few memorable knocks. Unfortunately, for Samson, barring the hundred against South Africa at Paarl earlier this year, none comes to mind. And this where Samson needs to get better at.
“At Royals, he knows what his role is. He also knows it doesn’t matter if he fails. I know, in the Indian team it’s very difficult for him to get a long stretch of games, especially now that Rishabh (Pant) has come back. But then, he needs to be given a long run at some point of time,” Yohanan added.
Samson is aware that there is way too much competition for his spot in the team. With Rishabh Pant being the front-runner to be the wicketkeeper in the team, and the likes of Ishan Kishan and Jitesh Sharma waiting, Samson’s competition is with himself first more than anyone else.
"He is not a guy who puts pressure on himself. He is someone who has a free mind. He is someone who excels when there are no strings attached, in an environment where he can express himself. He scored a century in his last ODI (against South Africa) and now he hasn’t been picked in the ODI squad. He has reached a point where he doesn’t think about it too much. He just goes game by game."
