Repaying selectors' faith in the series decider against the West Indies on Tuesday, power-hitter Sanju Samson played a crucial knock to help Team India register a morale-boosting win ahead of the Asia Cup 2023. With Team India opting to rely heavily on fringe players and youngsters in the third and final ODI of the series, Samson batted at the No.4 position while Ruturaj Gaikwad came in at No.3 for the Men In Blue.
Samson, who was dismissed for 9 off 19 balls in the 2nd ODI, notched up a brilliant half-century against the Men from the Caribbean at the Brian Lara Stadium. Jostling for the vacant wicketkeeper's spot in the absence of Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, Samson strengthened his selection case by scoring 51 off 41 balls. Though Samson returned to scoring ways for the Men In Blue, former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer expressed his reservations about the wicketkeeper-batter taking up the No.4 spot in the batting lineup.
'Samson played well but…'
"He (Sanju Samson) played well, but he plays a very high-risk game. If you look at his innings, he came out and hit those couple of sixes. It connected and went for six, but he could have gotten out if he had mistimed. That's been the case with Sanju Samson. So, somebody to bat at No.4 and play like that, I have my doubts," Jaffer told ESPNCricinfo.
‘He needs to learn’
{{/usCountry}}"He (Sanju Samson) played well, but he plays a very high-risk game. If you look at his innings, he came out and hit those couple of sixes. It connected and went for six, but he could have gotten out if he had mistimed. That's been the case with Sanju Samson. So, somebody to bat at No.4 and play like that, I have my doubts," Jaffer told ESPNCricinfo.
‘He needs to learn’
{{/usCountry}}Samson has been recalled to India's white-ball squad in the absence of gloveman Pant and former vice-captain Rahul. Samson and Kishan are the two wicketkeepers named in India's squad for the white-ball leg against the West Indies. While Kishan has been keeping wickets for India, Samson is operating as a specialist batter against the Men from the Caribbean. Half-centuries from Samson, Kishan, Shubman Gill and stand-in skipper Hardik Pandya guided India to a 200-run win over the West Indies in the series decider.
"That's fine if the team management gives him that licence, but consistency is also an issue. You want to be destructive, but you don't want to score in two or three innings out of six. That's my concern. Even in the IPL, we have seen that there are some good innings and some really lean patches. That's been the case. So he needs to learn," Jaffer added.