Harshal Patel and Jasprit Bumrah make a comeback as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed a 15-member squad for the upcoming T20I World Cup in Australia. There was hardly any surprising inclusion, but the omission of Sanju Samson has become the biggest talking point.
Despite being one of the most consistent batters in the IPL, Samson continues to be in on the sidelines for the Indian side. He has never got a consistent run of games to prove his worth, but in whatever little opportunities he got, the Rajasthan Royals skipper had put up a convincing performance.
Out of 26 T20Is that India played this season, Samson featured in only six of them, amassing 179 runs at an average of 44.75 and a strike rate of 158.40. Samson’s hard-hitting ability would have boosted the Indian top-order that lacked the firepower to get going from the beginning.
Since the IPL 2020, Samson has always held the record for hitting the most number of sixes in the middle overs, and his strike rate during this phase of the game is second to none. While the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma usually get stuck against the away spinners, Samson boasts a great ability to take them apart with his power game.
Not long ago, the Indian captain Rohit Sharma talked about the importance of having players like Samson for the World Cup. Rohit mentioned the strong backfoot game that Samson possesses, and how it would be a great thing to have in the pacy conditions of Australia.
“His back-foot play is superb, some of the shots you must have seen during the IPL, the pick-up pull, the cut shots, standing and delivering over bowler’s head,” said Rohit earlier this year. “Those kinds of shots are not easy to play and I believe when we go to Australia, you need that kind of shot-making ability and Samson does have it in him. I just hope that he utilizes his potential to the maximum.”
Fans are clearly unhappy with the current team management for not even picking him in the standbys. Many questioned the presence of Shreyas Iyer, who has a glaring weakness against short-pitched bowling, instead of Samson in the reserves.
Lead Image: Sanju Samson/Twitter
