You want Sanju Samson to succeed so bad, that every failure is just an utter disappointment. Yes, his batting position was changed constantly in the last year, but the very fact, that he has been picked in the T20 World Cup squad as the primary keeper, is only an assurance, that he will stay at the top of the order.
Sanju Samson’s form a big concern
But somehow, the runs are still not coming. In the second T20I, IND vs NZ, Samson could have been out for a golden duck, if not for a dropped catch at the square leg boundary by Devon Conway. In the very first over of the chase, he did fall, though. He was removed by Matt Henry, without adding any further runs. This after 10 in the 1st match in Nagpur.
Just to put things in perspective, his last fifty came eight innings back, vs Pakistan in the Asia Cup. Last hundred vs in November 24, against South Africa, and no real big scores after that. Inconsistency is what ails him now, like it had earlier. He averages under 25 in his over 50-match career, and the strike-rate is 147.
Should India look at Shubman Gill?
So, these performances make one wonder.. was it the correct decision to get rid of Shubman Gill ahead of him? Well, keeping his potential aside, Gill has better numbers than Sanju Samson. In 36 T20Is, he has 869 runs at an average of 28, and the strike-rate is close to 140.
Should the Indian team make a last-minute change and look for Gill again? Perhaps, or maybe not. This NZ series holds the key. And even if Sanju goes to the T20 World Cup, that might be his last chance to get some sort of consistency, which he never really had, apart from that brief spell in 2024, where he got three tons.
