Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan believes selectors have played a role in Sanju Samson’s poor form after the T20I series against New Zealand. Samson managed only 46 runs in five matches of the series at an average of 9.20 against the Kiwis, which is concerning ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Samson was opening with Abhishek Sharma but the selectors added Shubman Gill to the Asia Cup squad. In the end, the Ajit Agakar-led selection panel dropped Gill from the World Cup squad and gave Ishan Kishan a chance in the squad.
Meanwhile, Samson didn’t look at his best technically in the T20I series against the Blackcaps as he was playing with a predetermined mindset.
Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube Channel, “As for Sanju Samson, he hasn’t scored runs. A batter’s struggles due to two things. Firstly, a batter’s mindset is not in the right space and secondly due to technical faults. A batter who was not consistent but when he did, thrashed three centuries at the top and was asked to bat at the lower order due to some other player. We credited the selectors for Ishan Kishan but we have to blame them for Samson being out of form.”
“If you bring in a player into a position where another player has scored and there is a change of position, the problem arises. That’s what happened to Samson. Players who play domestic cricket can relate to this. When you have performed and another player is picked in your place, you either get upset or lose or confidence. You haven’t done anything wrong but your place is always in question.”
The former swing bowler said no team would want to carry an out-of-form player in their playing XI.
“Samson was in no fault when he played regularly. Now he is not in form. Samson is not looking mentally right and there are technical deficiencies too. No team will want an opener in their XI struggling for runs and is struggling with two things. The onus is on the selectors. For Ishan Kishan, the selectors deserve credit and they should be discredited for Samson. If you look at his stance, he is playing with a closed bat face. If the bat face is slightly closed, it’s okay but it is closed far too much. When he is playing, the bat face is closed even on impact point.”
India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against the USA on February 7.
