Will Team India drop Sanju Samson at his home ground, Greenfield International Stadium? The wicketkeeper hasn’t played an international match for India in Thiruvananthapuram. Will that wait continue?
Indian management backing Sanju Samson
India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak was posed the question on the eve of the India vs New Zealand 5th T20I. Kotak carefully shouldered arms to the query, much like how a batter leaves a ball outside off in a Test match.
Calling Samson a senior player, Kotak stated that the team management realises what destruction the 31-year-old can cause while opening. The batter has underperformed against New Zealand. Samson and the management know that.
But right now, Kotak, Gautam Gambhir, and Suryakumar Yadav are trying to keep him in a good headspace and ensure he performs at his best whenever form returns.
“He probably has not scored as many runs as everybody would like, but that’s part of the cricketing career. Sometimes, you have five innings in a row where you score so many runs, and sometimes you have a little rough period. So it’s all up to an individual how to keep his mind strong, and obviously, our job is to keep him in a good frame of mind. He practises, and he works hard. We all know what Sanju is capable of,” Kotak told reporters on the eve of the match.
Ishan Kishan to play in Trivandrum
Ishan Kishan, the only other wicketkeeper, could very well replace Samson in the India vs New Zealand 5th T20I. The southpaw from Jharkhand didn’t play the last match due to a niggle. “Arshdeep Singh comes in for Ishan Kishan, who picked up a niggle in the last game,” Suryakumar had said.
But Kotak is optimistic that Kishan will be available for the last match. He’s likely to undergo one fitness test before getting cleared to play. “Very likely, I think he will (play), as far as I know. The physios are here to watch him, and obviously they will take a call,” Kotak said.
Does that mean Kishan will replace Samson? To find the answer to this question, we’ll just have to wait until Suryakumar names the team tomorrow.
India squad for 5th New Zealand T20I
Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav(c), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel (vc), Shreyas Iyer, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh
