Legendary Sunil Gavaskar has lashed out at Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson for his poor shot selection. While chasing 176 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the second qualifier at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Friday, RR could only manage 139-7 and lost by 36 runs.
RR skipper Samson was dismissed for 10 while trying to play a big shot against Abhishek Sharma but was caught at long-on by Aiden Markram.
Gavaskar feels Samson hasn’t been able to get consistent chances for the national team because of his inconsistency and poor shot selection. Samson scored 531 runs in 15 matches at an average of 48.27 and a strike rate of 153.47 in IPL 2024 but the Little Master said there is no use of scoring more than 500 runs in a season if he can’t win his team the match or the title.
“What’s the use of scoring 500 runs if you can’t win your team the match or title? Everyone got out while playing glamorous shots. Why has Samson not had a steady India career? It’s because his shot selection has let him down,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Samson has been picked in India’s T20 World Cup squad and Gavaskar is hopeful that he grabs his chance with both hands.
“If his shot selection had been good, his India career too would have been long. I hope that the opportunity he has got in the T20 World Cup, he grabs it with both hands and cements his place,” Gavaskar said.
Meanwhile, Yashasvi Jaiswal scored an impressive knock of 42 runs off 21 balls. The left-hander was seen stretching his hamstring after reverse-sweeping Shahbaz Ahmed for a six and Gavaskar questioned if Jaiswal was tired.
“There are no questions about his temperament because he has shown in Test matches that he has the temperament and mentality. However, probably the shot selection. Was he tired? It seemed in the last match two days ago as well that he was cramping,” he replied.
Gavaskar reckons Jaiswal’s dismissal was the game-changer as the Royals kept losing wickets after that.
“I agree that it is extremely hot. However, we saw there was a slight wind blowing today, and the strategic time-out had just happened where you got the chance to take refreshments and drinks. To play such a shot after that, I feel the situation the Royals ended up in was because of that. If he had stayed for another two-three overs, there wouldn’t have been any problem,” Gavaskar elaborated.
