Indian opener Sanju Samson revealed he understood the team’s situation when he was dropped on the UK tour to accommodate young Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the playing XI. After returning with three low scores on the UK tour, Samson was dropped from the final XI in the second T20I against England.
Samson played in the fifth T20I against England as Sooryavanshi made way for him after not being able to grab his chance. Sooryavanshi then scored 151 runs in three T20Is against Zimbabwe after Samson was rested from the squad.
In the first two T20Is against Afghanistan, Samson was backed ahead of Sooryavanshi. After managing only 10 runs in the series opener, Samson scored a crucial knock of 57 runs off 22 balls in the second game.
Sanju Samson said in the post-match press conference, “Running the Indian team is not an easy task. You see a 15-year-old boy who has come after scoring 700-800 runs. My tournament was before that. After that, he performed so well and he had to come in some way or another. I did not perform in two or three games, he was in form and we wanted to win games in that series. It was very understandable from a leadership point of view.”
Samson, who earlier led Rajasthan Royals in IPL, said he himself has taken some tough selection calls as a leader and thus he understands the team’s selection headache.
“I have also taken many tough calls as a captain in an IPL franchise, so I understand. That is where communication comes in. GG (Gautam Gambhir) bhai’s communication was very important. Even during the England series, there was a lot of communication, and before this series too, he came and spoke to me a lot.”
Samson admitted that it is difficult to maintain consistency in the shortest format of the game as he is expected to score at a strike rate of 200.
“I think consistency in my process, consistency in my preparation, consistency in how I am practising and how I am putting my hard yards in. That is where I try to focus. You cannot control consistency in the result in this format. You cannot say, ‘Let me be consistent in the outcome.’ We have to strike at 200 and hit a six or four off every ball.”
The third and final T20I between Afghanistan and India will be played in Delhi on Thursday.
