5 Reasons why Sanju Samson deserves a chance in Team India’s XI today

One of the premier batsman and wicket-keeper of Rajasthan Royals, Sanju Samson has been part of the Indian T20I squad as the backup keeper for the past couple of series, but he hasn’t been given a chance in the playing 11 to prove his worth.

He has been warming the bench for the 7th consecutive game since he made a comeback with the Bangladesh series in November.

Unfortunately, he has had not much to do except carrying drinks on and off the field.

Here are the 5 reasons why we feel it’s high time that Sanju Samson must be given a chance in the playing 11.

Always happy donning the Blue ❤#HallaBol #Royalsfamily @IamSanjuSamson pic.twitter.com/dvZlUIXPmb

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) January 5, 2020

Current Form

On 12th October 2019 Samson smashed his career best of 212* against Goa in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy match. He became only the sixth Indian to score a List A double century. He scored  410 runs from just eight innings in that tournament at an average of close to 60 and an impressive strike rate of 125. 

This magnificent innings of his was the reason why the management called him back to the Indian T20I side.

This is well & truly through the gap by @IamSanjuSamson!!! Congratulations on being picked in the T20 squad. Soft hands, nimble feet and hopefully a sane head…go Sanju grab ur moment, long overdue. @BCCI

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) October 24, 2019

He had only played one T20I so far that too way back in 2015. Despite not getting a chance against Bangladesh, he was  axed from India’s original squad for the West Indies T20Is, inciting criticism from experts.

Sanju Samson not in the squad against the West Indies. How do you drop a player without giving him a single chance? And what do you think it's doing to the confidence of the cricketer?

— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) November 21, 2019

Hard on Sanju Samson but I guess he is much better off playing games rather than just travelling around. Big vote of confidence in Rishabh Pant but the team will expect more from him.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 21, 2019

 Later an injury to Shikhar led to his selection as a replacement.

Consistency in the IPL

The love story between Rajasthan Royals and Sanju Samson is something that every IPL fan is aware of. He had been one of their most consistent performer. Right from 2013, when he made his IPL debut for them, he was considered a special talent and an obvious successor to MS Dhoni. He has been considered a special talent by cricket experts and especially the foreign experts. Players like Jos Buttler had been showering enough praises for him. He possessed a batting average of 35 and a strike rate of 150 in IPL 2019 as well.

They came. They saw. They left their mark. ??

Who is your Royal of the decade? ⤵#RoyalsOfTheDecade #HallaBol #RoyalsFamily pic.twitter.com/xJA2Rw5uBC

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) December 31, 2019

 Flexibility in batting position

Sanju is someone who is flexible enough to bat in any position. He has batted at almost all positions in the middle order and has even opened the batting for his IPL side and for his state team Kerala as well, and has managed to score runs in all these positions with ease, which is an ability a very few batsman can boast of. His ability to keep the wickets adds to his strengths.

Fan Favourite 

Although this is never a criteria for someone’s selection to the national side, people all over the country who have seen his talent have been waiting for long to see him consistently in blues. As India played their second T20I against West Indies in Thiruvananthapuram, Sanju Samson walked out onto the field to a huge cheer, louder than even that for skipper Virat Kohli. Not many people on the planet can boast of having this level of fanfare, even at his home ground in this era despite not being consistently in the national side.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5z7uOlgWNx/?igshid=nxyr9eljfovw

Pant’s Inconsistency and T20 world cup around the corner 

Indian skipper and coach had earlier said in the media that they want to try as many options as possible to get the right team balance before the T20 world cup in Australia. With that in mind, it is surprising that they have not yet given any chance to Sanju despite the regular keeper Rishab showing inconsistency and immaturity with his batting and keeping. The management had stated earlier that they are backing Pant as he is young and due to the X-factor that he brings in. But it is to be noted that Sanju too is young and is capable of providing that X-factor.