Former India cricketer Abhishek Nayar shed some insights on talented Sanju Samson’s inability to cement his spot in the Indian team despite having made his international debut in 2015.
Despite being considered to be one of the most talented batters in the country, Samson has only played 24 T20Is and 13 ODIs in his international career thus far.
Samson battled for the keeper-batter spot in the Indian team after MS Dhoni retired but was usurped by Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul in the race. And then Ishan Kishan emerged as well, staking a claim as well.
Moreover, Samson’s domestic record doesn’t have that wow factor that Pant or Kishan’s have. Pant had become the youngest Indian to score a first-class triple century in the 2016/17 Ranji Trophy season, at the end of which he had scored a total of 972 runs at an average of 81.00 and a mind-boggling strike rate of 107.28.
That same season, Kishan had scored 799 runs in 10 matches at an average of 57.07 with three centuries. In comparison, that year Samson scored 334 runs in seven matches at an average of 30.36 with just one century to show.
In the 13 ODI matches that Samson has played, he has scored 390 runs at an average of 55.71. In T20Is, though he has scored only 374 runs at a strike rate of 133.57 and average of 19.68. He failed to impress in the recent T20I series against West Indies recording scores of 12, 7, and 13 whenever he got to bat.
Former batter Abhishek Nayar feels that Samson's difficulty in cementing a spot in international cricket comes down to the fact that he has not been allowed to bat in his natural position.
“To start with, his batting position. I feel he is a No.3 batter and often you get the best out of Sanju when he is batting in that position. We have seen him bat at No.4 in Ireland and No.6 in the West Indies, I don't feel that's an ideal position for him,” Nayar told Hindustan Times.
“He is obviously trying his best and trying to get a hold of playing in that kind of position in those conditions. I think we all need to be patient with Sanju. We all know the potential that he has. We will get the best of Sanju at No.3 but if we are ready to invest in him and wait, then once he understands the mantra of scoring runs at No.4 or 6. I think he will be someone that India will look towards in the future,” Nayar added.
Samson has been picked as a reserve in the Asia Cup 2023 squad and might even be called into service as KL Rahul is carrying a niggle and might not play in a couple of matches in the tournament.
