Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Parthiv Patel believes Sanju Samson has failed to grab his opportunities for the team after the team lost the second T20I against the West Indies by two wickets at the Providence Stadium, Guyana. Samson was dismissed cheaply for a run-a-ball seven as he was stumped by Nicholas Pooran off the bowling of Akeal Hosein.
Samson scored a fine knock of 51 runs off just 41 balls in the third ODI against the West Indies but he wasn’t able to carry the good show in the first two T20Is. The right-hander was run out after scoring 12 runs in the opening game of the series.
Once again, Samson tried to take the attack to the opposition from the get-go but could not execute his shot in the second T20I on Sunday.
There is no doubt that Samson has got all the talent and ability but his inconsistency hasn’t helped him secure his place in the team.
“Every time India loses, we look at the negative points. Throughout the white-ball series, there has been talk about the need for batters to bat long and it is something that has been missing so far. Every time Samson is not in the squad, we talk about him, but he has not cashed in on the opportunities he has availed of so far. Probably time is running out for him, maybes yes or maybe no,” Parthiv Patel said on Cricbuzz.
“Samson has been getting a lot of opportunities, to be honest, he is just not making the most of the opportunities that he is getting. There was only one batter who looked comfortable and that was Tilak Varma.”
On the other hand, Patel showered praise on Tilak Varma, who scored his maiden T20I fifty. The left-hander scored 51 runs from 41 balls as he batted at the top of his game. Patel said Varma showed the range of the shots he has in his arsenal.
“The way Tilak rotated the strike, the way he used the reverse sweep against spinners, the way he scored sixes over covers, through this he showed the range he has,” he said.
Patel also hailed West Indies’ bowling unit for restricting the visitors to 152-7 in the first innings.
“West Indies were very disciplined with their bowling, they did not try to do anything extra. They kept hitting the length, they backed themselves and the fielding was excellent as well,” he elaborated.
The third T20I of the series will be played at the same venue of Providence Stadium, Guyana on Tuesday.
