Sanju Samson has a “precious quality” which makes not just batting, but six-hitting look easy on the eye, says veteran Indian journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, following the Rajasthan Royals captain’s highly entertaining, and equally classy, knock versus the Gujarat Titans in the Qualifier 1 at the Eden Gardens.
Two days after being dropped from India’s T20I squad for the upcoming South Africa series, Samson – who had played a brilliant innings versus Sri Lanka before the IPL – was out in the middle with intent against arguably the best bowling attack in the IPL.
He didn’t need any warm-up deliveries to settle himself in – for that is not his modus operandi, as the selectors wouldn’t have it though – as Samson, on his first ball, elegantly smoked Yash Dayal for a six over long-on, followed by a thumping cover drive on his third ball.
Next up, he was up against the best powerplay bowler of the tournament, Mohammed Shami, but that didn’t intimidate the Kerala batsman: a chip evades mid-off followed by a disdainful hit through mid-wicket for consecutive fours.
In the last over of the powerplay, Samson was next facing Gujarat’s fastest bowler in the eleven, Alzarri Joseph. The RR skipper, one of the most elegant batter in the world, liked what was coming to him: pace of Joseph, on the even bounce track at Eden. It was all set for Samson to clatter a couple of sixes off the West Indian. Samson was 30 off 13 at the end of the powerplay, perhaps giving some itching to the selectors already.
Sanju Samson is smart; with some grip and little turn, he realized Rashid Khan, already GT’s biggest threat, was going to be a menace to handle, and is cautiously just played out the leg-spinner, even blocking for once.
But was quick to pounce on the weak and inexperienced link, Sai Kishore, cutting the left-arm spinner on the backfoot for a couple of boundaries.
The Samson show finally came to an end when, looking for another six, he holed out at long-on off Kishore, dismissed for 47 off 26 balls, not caring about the half-century landmark, putting his team ahead of his personal milestone, thinking of one ball at a time, batting at a high strike rate and ready to have a lower average in order to make premium impact in whatever time he spends in the middle.
Rajdeep Sardesai’s Take On Sanju Samson’s Knock:
Rajdeep Sardesai took to Twitter with a special message for the national selectors: give Samson a continuous run – not like the 13 T20Is game he’s got in 7 years – and then see whether he’s good enough for the national side.
“IPL gyaan: @IamSanjuSamson magical 47 of 27.. give him half a dozen games at number 3/4 in T 20 intls without a break and then tell me he is not good enough for India. T 20 needs X factor players and he has that precious quality to make ball striking seem easy,” Sardesai tweeted.
Here’s Rajdeep Sardesai’s special request to the Indian selectors regarding Sanju Samson:
IPL gyaan: @IamSanjuSamson magical 47 of 27.. give him half a dozen games at number 3/4 in T 20 intls without a break and then tell me he is not good enough for India. T 20 needs X factor players and he has that precious quality to make ball striking seem easy. #RRvGT
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) May 24, 2022
