Sanju Samson may have been included in India’s squad for the Asia Cup, but all isn’t going well for him. When Shubman Gill was named as vice-captain, it became more or less clear that Samson won’t open the batting alongside Abhishek Sharma.
Sunil Gavaskar had suggested that Samson should be slotted at number six. That thought didn’t really sit well. But a few days later, Samson decided to bat at number 5 for Kochi Blue Tigers in his first Kerala Cricket League (KCL) match.
Samson’s middle-order ploy fails
This was an indication that Samson might be playing in the middle order. It came out that the wicketkeeper batter was under the weather and had even gone to the hospital. Perhaps that was the reason for playing at 5, one thought. No, it seems like it’s a proper plan.
Playing against Alleppey Ripples, Samson slotted himself even lower down the order at number 6. Maybe the Indian management told him that he won’t get a chance in the top order, so instead of indirectly fighting for a spot with Jitesh Sharma, Samson is now directly engaged in a tussle for the wicketkeeper spot.
But things aren’t going well. Entering the Greenfield International Stadium when the Tigers were 108/4 after 9 overs, Samson scored just 13 runs from 22 balls. The right-handed batter hit zero boundaries. Heck, he didn’t even take a double in the innings. It was all binary. Either Samson took a single or played a dot.
The pitch wasn’t exactly that bad. Kochi Blue Tigers managed to score 183 runs. All of the deliveries that Samson faced were from spinners. Akshay Chandran, Vignesh Puthur, Jalaj Saxena, and Sreehari S Nair. The inability to hit them is concerning if Samson was at his physical best.
One can’t forget that the pitches for the Asia Cup will be spin-friendly since the tournament is played in the UAE. We might see teams bowl spin even in the death overs. This is in no way a confidence-boosting performance for Samson or the Indian management.
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