 "Gambhir asked for clarity over 'big' Samson question: 'You told us he can bat in middle order'")
Sanju Samson sat out for the second straight game as India defeated Australia in the fourth T20I on Thursday to take a 2-1 lead ahead of the final match on Saturday.
Samson was dropped after two matches in the series to accommodate Jitesh Sharma in the middle order. The ouster of Samson, who has been a part of the T20I team since last year’s T20 World Cup, has not gone down well with former cricketer Aakash Chopra.
Chopra asked head coach Gautam Gambhir about the future of Samson who also played all the matches as part of the Asia Cup-winning squad recently.
‘Big, big, big question’
“The biggest question that is looming large is: what have we decided about Sanju Samson?” asked Chopra on his YouTube channel. “Sanju not playing is a big, big, big question as to why we are doing like that. We played Sanju and he had done decently as well. I won’t say he had done extraordinarily, but he was okay. You made him bat up the order against Oman and he scored a fifty.”
Samson was opening the innings for India before the Asia Cup when he was pushed into the middle order to accommodate Shubman Gill at the top. Chopra asked if the team management was convinced Samson could play in the middle order till a few games back, how has he been dropped suddenly.
“You only told us that he can bat down the order. We were saying you should make him open only, and if you are not doing that, play Jitesh. That was my original position, but you said you will be able to take care of Sanju Samson and will play him, and you know what you are doing. We respected that,” he said.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“You played him, the team won the Asia Cup, and we clapped. After that, his batting didn’t come in Canberra. Okay sir, no problems. You sent him at No. 3 in Melbourne. Surprise, but we say okay sir, but then you dropped him. Now I am unable to understand whether I should again say okay sir, because it’s not understandable what we are trying to do," he continued.
Will Jitesh Sharma be given a long run?
The cricketer-turned-commentator also asked for clarity on whether now Jitesh would be backed to play for some time or not.
“So whether Sanju Samson will play or not is a big question, in my opinion. If Jitesh was played and he has performed decently as well, scored 20-odd runs, logic says you will stay with him, but whether you will, I don’t know sir. I don’t have the answer to that question,” Chopra concluded.
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