Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer reckons Sanju Samson should be given a consistent run of at least 10 matches to prove his mettle. Samson has sporadically received his chances in the Indian team, which hasn’t helped him. The Kerala batter didn’t play in the T20I series against New Zealand and he played only in the first ODI against the Kiwis.
Samson scored a decent knock of 36 runs in the first ODI but he was dropped in the next two matches as India played Deepak Hooda in the next two games. Hooda was given preference ahead of Samson as the former can roll his arm over.
Samson has scored 330 runs in 11 ODI matches at an average of 66 and a strike rate of 104.76 and thus there is no doubt that he deserves consistent chances in the final XI.
“Yes, I feel Samson, because he is in such a good form and he is not getting consistent run. I feel he deserves this. Even in T20 cricket or ODI cricket, he must have a consistent run of let’s say ten games,” Wasim Jaffer told ESPN Cricinfo.
“When you have a large talent pool and there are a lot of options, it may cause trouble for you. The management must chalk out 18-20 players that this our core team and focus on them,” he added.
On the other hand, India’s stand-in captain Shikhar Dhawan said Sanju Samson might have to wait for opportunities as Rishabh Pant is a match-winner and has done well for the team.
“Overall, you have to see the larger picture and who is your match winner. You analyse and your decisions are based on that,” Dhawan said at the post-match interaction.
“Of course, Sanju Samson has been doing really well in whatever opportunity he got. But sometimes you got to wait for your chances because the other player has done well, and we know based on his (Pant’s) skill that he’s a match-winner. So, you need to back him when he’s not doing well,” Dhawan said.
Sanju Samson hasn’t been picked for the ODI series against Bangladesh.
India ODI squad for Bangladesh tour: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, W Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Yash Dayal
