Sanju Samson scored 29 runs in the first T20I against Bangladesh© BCCI/Sportzpics
One of the crowd’s favourites in Indian cricket, Sanju Samson got a rare opportunity to open the innings alongside Abhishek Sharma as the team took on Bangladesh in the first T20I of the 3-match series on Sunday. Samson looked on song, scoring 29 runs off 19 balls before being dismissed by Mehidy Hasan Miraz. While it wasn’t a bad score by any means, especially as India were only chasing a target of 128 runs, former cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra isn’t impressed. In fact, Aakash recalled an old statement given by the new Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir, where he had highlighted the importance of Samson to Indian cricket.
Gambhir has always rated Samson highly and he probably played a role in getting him to open the innings alongside Abhishek in the first T20I. But Chopra feels the wicket-keeper batter needs to do more, or else he will soon be dropped, with Gambhir himself probably calling the shots.
“You need to talk about Sanju Samson. Abhishek Sharma was playing amazingly well until he was there but he got run out. But how well did Sanju play. Gautam Gambhir said long back that if Sanju Samson doesn’t play for India, it’s India’s loss. He was made to open. The silken touch was seen. He wasn’t hitting the ball hard. It seemed like he didn’t want to hurt the ball, and he was hitting one four after another. When everyone was hitting, he also hit but by caressing the ball. You were getting hit, you were bleeding but you were not feeling the pain,” Chopra said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“He is good. He scored 29 runs. My only thing was that since he had reached here, he should go slightly further ahead. He should score a few more runs because, otherwise, they would drop him. He keeps moving in and out (of the side), and up and down (the batting order),” he asserted.
Samson has played at various positions for India in T20Is. Top order arguably still remains the place where he excels the most. With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from T20Is, it’s time Samson grasps his opportunities with both hands.
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