India as a cricket team has always been a treasure for batters. No doubt the bowling legacy from India too has its own history but batters from India which comes from different parts from a multi diverse country has its own fragrances . The likes of Legendary Sunil Gavaskar , Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar , Modern Master Virat Kohli has always been the toast of the cricketing world being called as the Legends of the game .
Apart from them India also had produced batters who has flair and style in their techniques with the likes of Ganguly, Laxman , Dravid, Rohit Sharma taking the centerstage. The reason to call upon these names of batters is only to underline the different style they had during the approach of their batting. One can associate Rohit Sharma as hard hitting and swashbuckling but on the other hand can associate Dravid with poiseness and calmness.
With such diversity in the techniques in batting hardly India has found the batter who is poised as well as swashbuckling and hard hitting at the same time. And there comes a story of this Kerala batter who has both the elegance of Dravid and the Hard hitting of Rohit Sharma. Sanju Samson right from his playing years at domestic or Indian colors since 2021 has been a curious case of study for all the cricket fans and experts.
Spotted as a young and bright wicketkeeper who bats tremendously well Sanju Samson always remained under the radar of the BCCI selectors who for some strange reasons snubbed or ignored to give him regular chances. In-fact somewhere Sanju also has to blame himself for not availing those chances when he got to represent India at the highest level thus doing injustice to his own talent.
However in the third ODI versus the South Africans in the recently concluded ODI series which India won 2-1 Sanju emerged as the hero with the bat guiding Indian total to 295 in the match where he scored his first international century a brilliant 101 runs which proved to be a steeping stone in India winning the ODI series 2-1 in South Africa.
This knock made the selectors believe in the ability of Sanju Samson the batter and got him selected for the 3 match T20I series versus Afghanistan at home as a wicket keeper batter alongside youngster Jitesh Sharma.
Sanju though has missed the first match but will look to grab this opportunity and perform well whenever he gets chance in the playing 11 as well as in IPL to follow where he leads the Rajasthan Royal (RR) side in order to keep him reckoning for the upcoming T20I World Cup in June at the Caribbean Islands and The United State of America.
“Sanju Samson can be India’s X-factor at the T20 World Cup”-Former Indian All rounder Suresh Raina expresses his view on star Indian wicketkeeper batter.
Former Indian cricketer and star all rounder Suresh Raina is delighted to see Sanju Samson back in India’s T20I scheme for the three-match series against Afghanistan set to begin on Thursday, January 11.
Samson hasn’t really been consistent in the shortest format at the international level, averaging just under 20 with 374 runs from 24 T20Is. He also plays in the top order for his IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals and those slots in the Indian team seem filled with the comeback of big names like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
However, speaking to reporters in an interaction arranged by Jio Cinema, Suresh Raina explained why he wants Sanju Samson to bat in the middle order for India:
“I prefer to have Sanju in the middle order because he has a lot of shots. He plays those pick-up shots against pacers from the length. Hopefully, he performs well in the IPL too before the selectors sit down to select the team for the T20 World Cup. So, it is a good chance for Sanju against Afghanistan, and he can be our X-Factor in the World Cup.”
Suresh Raina on Sanju Samson’s maiden ODI hundred for India
Despite being overlooked for the 2023 World Cup, Sanju Samson grabbed his opportunity with both hands in South Africa as he scored a fantastic hundred in Paarl to help India seal the series 2-1.
Suresh Raina praised Samson for that knock and also shed light on his leadership traits. On this, he stated:
“Sanju has made a wonderful hundred against South Africa recently. He is captain material as his mind is always ticking while on the field. We have some very good options for the wicketkeeper-batter role — KL Rahul, Jitesh Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Pant whenever he comes back after getting fit.”
India in the first match of the series choose the likes of Jitesh Sharma over Sanju Samson with former scoring a brisk 27 runs in a chase which means that Sanju Samson now have a uphill task to prove himself once again in the remaining 2 matches if given chances or the best bet is to perform well in the IPL season of 2024 to stay in contention for the marquee event in June 2024.