Former Indian fast bowler Varun Aaron believes Sanju Samson’s dismissal led to India’s downfall in the fourth T20I against the West Indies. Samson scored an impressive knock of 56 runs off 23 balls as he scored six fours and four sixes in his quickfire knock and made the most of the Powerplay overs.
The Indian opener was batting at his absolute best after he was hit on the head by a bouncer. However, he was caught at the boundary ropes by Shimron Hetmyer and his dismissal changed the momentum of the innings.
India was restricted to 223-9 after the West Indies posted an above-par score of 247 runs on the board.
“Sanju was a different batter before and after the bouncer. The moment that bouncer hit him, it was like it completely awakened something from within, and then he batted so fluently. Just timed the ball. It was Sanju Samson at his best,” Varun Aaron said on Star Sports.
“Sanju is one of those batters, when he gets going, everything looks so easy, and today (Wednesday), I think that wicket caused India’s downfall. India rely on him and Abhishek Sharma. Abhishek was a bit scratchy today, which can happen sometimes, but Sanju Samson is extremely key to this Indian batting,” he added.
Aaron said Abhishek wasn’t able to get the rhythm in his innings as he had faced only two deliveries when Samson was batting on 40.
“Sometimes you don’t get rhythm. When Sanju Samson was on 40, Abhishek had played just two balls. If you see Abhishek’s general way of building an innings, he loves to just get into a rhythm,” he replied.
“He couldn’t get into a rhythm today, and again, the moment he was getting into rhythm, he faced his nemesis in the form of Roston Chase. Roston Chase has bowled really well against him. He bowled well today. Yes, that one 25-run over was quite a big over, but after that, he hardly gave the Indian batters a quarter,” Aaron observed.
The fifth and final match of the series between India and the West Indies will be played at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, on Saturday.
