Sanju Samson appears to be on a bit of a slippery slope ahead of the T20 World Cup. A string of low scores – he has scored 16 runs in the first three T20Is in the ongoing series against New Zealand – has seemingly jeopardised his position in the playing XI. Tilak Varma’s absence has turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Ishan Kishan, who seamlessly fitted into the role of an enforcer at No. 3, making a mockery of his two-year-long international hiatus.
Whether Ishan should partner Abhishek Sharma at the top once Tilak returns to the fold –the BCCI has confirmed that the Hyderabad batsman would be fit for the World Cup starting on February 7 – and takes his customary No. 3 position has become a raging debate. The Indian team management is unlikely to be affected by the outside noise – what Krishnamachari Srikkanth, for example, is saying on his YouTube channel – and the leadership group still considers Samson as the team’s first-choice opener, along with Abhishek. But the way Ishan has been playing, it’s difficult to ignore his impact. Samson needs to get his act together fast.
But what actually is Samson’s problem, his inconsistency to be precise? A tally of 1,048 runs at 24.37 in 47 T20I innings attests it. Is it technical, or there’s a mental aspect to it as well? The selectors took a bold call to drop Shubman Gill from the T20 World Cup squad, putting their collective faith in Samson to give electric starts in company with Abhishek. The duo did it for a considerable period of time before Gill was brought back to the T20I set-up. Now, is it a case of Samson putting himself under additional pressure?
Before moving into his cricket, it’s important to understand Samson the person. This correspondent has spoken to people who know the cricketer from a young age and according to them, his outlook towards life is more of a bigger canvas than sticking to certain specifics. Yes, cricket is incredibly important to him. Else, he wouldn’t have played for India. But it’s not the be-all-and-end-all thing.
Those who know Samson at close quarters would say this: “He is an exceptional human being in every sense of the word with incredible values. Honest, sincere, giving, religious and so much more.
“He is more concerned about whether he did a good job in building houses for the poor from his village than which game he is playing and where.
“Obviously he is passionate about playing for his country and being in a position to be a representative from Kerala, but that’s just who he is as a person.
“Traversing that juxtaposition in his head and in his life is a serious challenge.”
Sometimes it’s important to go beyond the boundary to judge a player or his form for that matter. The common people in Kerala recognise that Samson is a good, humble guy. Unlike S Sreesanth, Samson is universally adored in his home state. People want him to do well.
Then again, we see Samson constantly oscillate between mercurial and average. Is there a technical shortcoming that prevents him from being consistent?
WV Raman, the former India batsman and a renowned coach, believes that there’s one. “#Samson will be inconsistent as long as he doesn’t adjust the speed of his bat on the downswing in relation to the pace of the ball. In simple terms one can’t drive a car at the same speed all the time, everywhere,” he posted on his X (formerly Twitter) handle a few days ago.
The counter-argument comes from someone who knows Samson’s game inside out and worked with him for a long time as a coach, along with the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Vaibhav Suryavanshi and many others.
“Anyone who can score a hundred on a spicy pitch in South Africa, which was seaming and bouncing, with Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee bowling quick, shouldn’t have a technical problem,” said Zubin Bharucha. “Abhishek was hit flush on the head by Jansen and the next best score was 30-odd…”
The final two matches of the series against the Kiwis are dead rubbers. But the Samson-Ishan debate keeps the spark alive. Is it now or never for Samson? Or is it still just outside noise?
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