Sanju Samson played a brilliant innings to help India beat Zimbabwe in the fifth T20I match at Harare Sports Club on Sunday, July 14. The Indian wicketkeeper batter top-scored with 58 runs off 45 balls to help India survive an early collapse while batting first in the series finale. India lost the first three wickets in the powerplay but Sanju Samson stood strong with a mature and sensible innings in tough playing conditions.
Sanju Samson smashed a 39-ball fifty to celebrate his only second T20I fifty and his first half-century as a designated wicketkeeper batter. The 29-year-old batter became the first-ever Indian wicketkeeper to score a fifty against Zimbabwe in T20Is. No Indian wicketkeeper had scored a 50-plus score in the first 12 T20 encounters against Zimbabwe. And surprisingly no batter had scored a century in India vs Zimbabwe T20Is before Abhishek Sharma’s 100 off 47 balls in the second match of this series.
Sanju Samson smashes 110 mts six to leave everyone in awe vs match against Zimbabwe
Vice-captain Sanju Samson smashed his second T20I fifty through a 45-ball 58, while fast-bowler Mukesh Kumar picked his career-best figures in the format through 4-22 as India beat Zimbabwe by 42 runs in the fifth and final game at the Harare Sports Club to win the series 4-1. Sanju Samson was at his languid best, hitting a four and four sixes in his knock, while sharing a 65-run stand off 56 balls for the fourth wicket with Riyan Parag, to bail India out of trouble after losing their top three batters in powerplay.
The wicketkeeper-batter slammed a 110-metre six during the game. It was so big that the ball went out of the ground. Brandon Mavuta tossed up the ball outside off stump and Sanju Samson slammed it down the ground for the biggie. With Rishabh Pant already in the Indian squad after a miraculous comeback in his career, Sanju Samson with his flair of easiness in the shots he hit and importantly making use of the chances he gets still has a long way to go.
Former Indian batter Abhinav Mukund expresses that despite immense talent to his kitty he is sometimes denied only due to his own negligence in proving to be the best.
Abhinav Mukund reacts on Sanju Samson’s half-century in 5th IND vs ZIM T20I
Abhinav Mukund has lauded Sanju Samson for scoring a mature half-century in the fifth T20I between India and Zimbabwe. He pointed out that the Kerala wicketkeeper-batter hasn’t made the most of his talent at times previously. Sanju Samson scored 58 runs off 45 deliveries as India set Zimbabwe a 168-run target in the final T20I in Harare on Sunday, July 14. The visitors then bundled Sikandar Raza and company out for 125 to register a 42-run win and complete a 4-1 series victory.
Reviewing the game on Sony Sports, Mukund noted that captaining the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League has made Samson more mature.
“It’s a tough place to be Sanju Samson in Indian cricket because with all that talent, sometimes he tends to frustrate you, he doesn’t show the maturity. I feel that’s where captaining in the IPL, like he told me earlier, has really helped him because he plays with superstars but he also deals with youngsters as well like Riyan Parag and Yashaswi Jaiswal,” he elaborated.
The former India opener added that Samson has staked his claim for the wicketkeeper-batter’s position in India’s T20I side.
“That’s where you see his maturity as a batter come through. There is immense competition for a wicketkeeper slot in Indian cricket at the moment, and Sanju Samson has just put his hand up today and said ‘Listen, I am still here, so you better not count me out in any of these conversations’,” Mukund said.
Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant were the two wicketkeepers in India’s 2024 T20 World Cup squad. While Pant played all the games, Sanju Samson wasn’t included in the XI as a specialist batter either. With Sri Lanka series next in India’s iternary it would would be interesting too see if given chance under new coach Gautam Gambhir how Sanju Samson fairs in his cricketing career in future series.