Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra urged Sanju Samson to convert his starts into substantial scores in the T20I series against Bangladesh. After Bangladesh was bowled out for 127, Samson was backed to open the innings with Abhishek Sharma.
The Kerala batter looked in good touch as he timed the ball to perfection and scored a decent knock of 29 runs off 19 balls with the help of six fours. However, once again Samson was dismissed while trying to play a big shot and he could not remain unbeaten till the end.
Chopra recalled that head coach Gautam Gambhir had earlier said if Sanju Samson doesn’t play for India, then it is the country’s loss.
“You need to talk about Sanju Samson. Abhishek Sharma was playing amazingly well until he was there but he got run out. But how well did Sanju play. Gautam Gambhir said long back that if Sanju Samson doesn’t play for India, it’s India’s loss. He was made to open,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“The silken touch was seen. He wasn’t hitting the ball hard. It seemed like he didn’t want to hurt the ball, and he was hitting one four after another. When everyone was hitting, he also hit but by caressing the ball. You were getting hit, you were bleeding but you were not feeling the pain,” Chopra elaborated.
However, the renowned commentator shared his disappointment after Samson could not convert his start into a big score despite no run rate pressure.
“He is good. He scored 29 runs. My only thing was that since he had reached here, he should go slightly further ahead. He should score a few more runs because, otherwise, they would drop him. He keeps moving in and out (of the side), and up and down (the batting order),” he reasoned (7:50).
Chopra is hopeful that a big knock is around the corner for the talented batter, who hasn’t yet done justice to his ability at the top level.
“At least, he got a good start, and I really hope that a big knock comes in Delhi or the last match in Hyderabad, so that you stay in everybody’s thoughts. Suryakumar Yadav also said that the captain will play like this. It was a dominating performance. In fact, the ball he got out to wasn’t a wicket-taking ball, he played a good shot as well, but just found a fielder in the deep,” Chopra said.
Samson was livid with himself after his dismissal as he could have made a bigger score.
The second match of the series will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Wednesday.
