Former Indian wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik has put his weight behind Sanju Samson ahead of the Super 8 clash against Zimbabwe. Karthik said he feels for Samson as he was doing a good job for the team before Shubman Gill replaced him as an opener.
Samson had scored three centuries as an opener but managed only 51 runs in five-match series against England. In the Asia Cup, Shubman Gill was named as the team’s vice-captain and opened with Abhishek Sharma.
Eventually, Gill was dropped from the T20 World Cup squad but Samson could only score 46 runs in five matches against New Zealand at an average of 9.20 and he was replaced by in-form Ishan Kishan.
Dinesh Karthik said on his Instagram Handle, “What a beautiful story it’ll be if he actually ends up playing. He has had such a rough last year. I feel for that kid because he was doing very well. Then Shubman Gill replaced him, and after that, when he got his opportunity again, Sanju didn’t grab it. But we know Sanju Samson can be such a weapon, especially against spin.”
Karthik said Samson will get Chennai’s crowd backing as he will represent CSK in IPL 2026.
“And now having moved from RR to CSK, having become the adopted son of Chennai, the Chennai crowd will love it. I cannot be more happy for Sanju if he plays and does well because he’s going to be spending the next three months in Chennai. What a comeback it’ll be to have it in Chennai.”
Karthik reckons adding Sanju Samson will help India in getting the best out of Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav.
“Surya and Tilak haven’t gotten going, and Surya has a strike rate of only 103, and Tilak under 100. But both are quality players of spin. So adding a Sanju will get the best out of Surya and Tilak when they bat through the middle,” said Karthik (via the aforementioned source).
“In the last year, Indians have averaged 39 at a strike rate of 160 against spin. But in this World Cup, those numbers drop to 17.50 average at a 120 strike rate. That’s not good enough, and that’s an area of weakness for India.”
India will take on Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on Thursday.
