Sanju Samson was mismanaged: this was an opinion most had during the Asia Cup. After redefining himself as India’s T20I opener, the wicketkeeper was removed from the position and shifted to the middle order. Shubman Gill, whom the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) wants to make India’s next all-format captain, was brought back as vice-captain.
India’s dressing room, a positive place
Gill didn’t perform, and to some extent, neither did Samson. But there was one positive thing that came out of it all. That Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir would back their players. Abhishek Sharma recently shared how he was told to take bowlers on in the powerplay without fearing for his spot in the team. ‘Score 15 ducks and you won’t be dropped,’ is what Suryakumar told him.
Samson, too, was told this when he came to the T20I team as India’s other opener. Suryakumar recently also shared how Samson was their first choice as the wicketkeeper despite Jitesh Sharma being a better fit at the position because he had performed for the team in the last 12 months.
Sudharsan backed like Samson
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has applauded the management, Gambhir, and Suryakumar/Gill, for the amount of confidence they have been giving to players. Just like Samson, a player who was getting scrutinised was Sai Sudharsan. The southpaw had a tough England tour and then failed to score in Ahmedabad against the West Indies.
Pressure was mounting. But prior to the Delhi Test, India’s captain Gill came out and said that Sudharsan isn’t in any danger of getting dropped. And a couple of days later, Sudharsan delivered. On the first day of the Delhi Test, he scored a crucial 87. The score isn’t just indicative of his talent but also the backing that Gill and Gambhir are giving them. For this, Aakash applauds them.
“In this (current Indian) dressing room, players are given confidence. They tell players, ‘We’ll stick with you.’ Like Sanju Samson was told, don’t listen to what the world says. Everyone might be saying that you’ll get dropped (for the Asia Cup) because Shubman Gill will replace you as an opener. But they told him, you were part of the team before, and that’ll remain the case now. You might need to bat lower down the order and will have to adapt. But you won’t get dropped. Similarly, they won’t drop Sai. They’ll tell him to just play and score runs, not worry about his spot in the team,” Aakash said on his YouTube channel.
