Prior to the Bangladesh match, India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate had stated that Sanju Samson will be backed to play at number 5, not just in the coming match or the Asia Cup, but even beyond. This statement was given on September 23, a day before the game in Dubai.
Statement on Samson before the IND vs BAN match
“He’s had two decent chances, and he’s still figuring out how to play that role. I think the wicket also got a little bit tired (slow) in that Pakistan game. But certainly, with the way Shubman and Abhi are going at the top, you’ve got your captain batting at 3, and the way Tilak’s played, we are looking for a number five. We believe Sanju is the best man for the job. And we’ve got no doubt that he’ll figure out how to play that role in the future,” Ryan told reporters on the eve of the India vs Bangladesh match.
Forget number 5; Samson wasn’t even sent at number 7. The wicketkeeper had looked scratchy in the two matches he played. Against Oman, Samson was sent at number three and scored a fifty from 40 balls. Against Pakistan, he was even worse. Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill had killed the chase; all he had to do was bat with a 120 strike rate. But Samson scored 13 runs from 17 balls.
It was visible that he wasn’t in good nick. So, it made sense that Samson played at the position he was supposed to in the India vs Bangladesh match. This would have meant that Samson would come in to bat when the score was 112/3 in 11.1 overs. Enough time to play a few deliveries and then go bang.
Sanju Samson being mistreated?
But Hardik Pandya was sent ahead of him. Then Tilak Varma and then Axar Patel. The decision-making was head-scratching, as Shivam Dube was promoted to number three for some reason as well. The Indian management gave the statement that they back Samson to play in the middle order over Jitesh Sharma, who’s a proven finisher.
But Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav didn’t slot him to bat there against Bangladesh for some odd reason. If the plan is to play a finisher wicketkeeper, why even play Samson over Jitesh? This begs the question, what does Team India expect Samson to do? And how is it fair to remove him as an opener and not even give him a chance to bat in the top seven?
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