What’s Wrong With Sanju Samson!? India’s preparation for the upcoming World Cup are going on with the ongoing series against the West Indies. While they beat them in the ODI series, they currently find themselves in a 2-0 in the T20 leg of the white ball series. So to say that their preparation for the upcoming home WC is going all smoothly is lying to themselves. The management and the top brass of the sides have made some pretty baffling decisions which can very well go on and permanently disrupt the fine-tuning process of the side. From “resting” the seniors to miscalculation of overs from key bowlers, this Indian side is doing everything opposite the trend. Not much to gloat about if we’re being honest.
Another one of these blunders is taking away the keeping gloves from Sanju Samson. The Kerala keeper-batsman has been a out-and-out keeper always, and has very rarely played as an outfield player, if at all he has played. Normally whenever he is selected in the playing 11, he is played as the designated keeper and the other keeper is more or less the outfield player. Now here’s the thing about wicketkeepers. Some of them are brilliant athletes and can field anywhere across the ground, while the others are not exactly known for their fielding prowess and are best suited to doing their jobs behind the stumps.
WI Vs IND: What’s Going On With Sanju Samson!?
Unfortunately, Sanju Samson falls into the second category. He’s a brilliant keeper and very vocal from behind the stumps, but is not the best of fielders in the outfield. It seems like the BCCI is playing a very cruel game with Samson in terms of his cricketing spectrum. Firstly he’s not a regular name on the team sheet, and if at all he is selected, there is the caveat of him playing as the outfield player, which more of less is an handicap not only for the player, but for the team as well. The BCCI and the team management might not know this, but by doing this they are inadvertently breaking Samson.
I agree that a player has to deal with whatever is thrown at him because that is how a player improves, but seeing Samson without the gloves is like seeing a superhero attempt to pull off the things that he does without his powers. It just doesn’t happen. You could clearly see last night that shift in his body language, not only on the field, but with the bat as well. Taking away his gloves felt like taking away the very fabric of his cricketing persona, without which he felt rather redundant.
That automatically has a knock on effect on the batting side of things as well. A poor day on the field means a poor day with the bat. You add to all of this and it becomes a very difficult proposition to select Samson as a pure batsman, because with Kl Rahul and Rishabh Pant on their road to recovery, and Ishan Kishan staking his claim, it becomes a nigh on impossible task to put Samson in the side as a keeper.
So whatever it is that is going on as far as Samson is concerned, either play him as a keeper-batsman, because Ishan Kishan has the experience of playing as an outfield player/pure batter, or maybe just be clear with the guy on where he stands in the national reckoning. Taking away one thing by offering another will do no good to either played or team.
Can Sanju Samson do justice to the faith shown in him by his loyal fans!?
