Despite yet another stellar season in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Sanju Samson was not selected for the upcoming T20 series against South Africa at home announced by the BCCI.
Undeniably, Samson has been a consistent run-scorer in the IPL for the last few seasons and deserves to be a part of the T20 setup.
Sanju Samson has been effective and consistent with his approach throughout this season of IPL. He has dominated the middle over and has struck at a sensational 156.13 strike rate, amassing 815 runs in 31 innings. Not to forget, Samson has relished in his challenge of death overs, having batted 45 runs off 20 deliveries, striking at 225.
Since 2020, Samson has dominated the run-charts at the no. 3 position in T20 cricket. Samson ranks second in the chart with the best strike rate of 154.39, hoarding 474 runs in 30 innings. So far, he has slammed three hundred (119, 102*, and 102) and 16 fifties. As far as this whole IPL season is concerned, Samson‘s 298 runs have come at an average and strike rate of 33.11 and 153.60 respectively to be Rajasthan’s second-highest run-scorer. Not to mention that he is a reliable player. Many times, Sanju single-handedly carried his team to the victory. Hailed as a ‘Best Batsman in India’, Samson has time and again proved his ability to play under pressure with his ferocious knock against the opposition.
Not long before, Rohit Sharma has lauded Samson’s batting and how everyone goes over the moon by watching it. Rohit even said that he feels Samson's “shot-making ability” could be necessary in Australia during the T20 World cup later this year. He has superb back-foot play, and his shots, especially the pick-up pull, the cut shots, standing and delivering over the bowler's head are mind-blowing. Australia’s ground is the most suitable for making such plays, and Samson surely carries it in him. Such shots are not easy to play, and that’s why Samson is considered important for the team.
It's saddening to see such an extraordinary player snubbed from the Indian Team, at this crucial time.
Soon after BCCI’s announcement, the fans, supporters, and critics like Harsha Bhogle took off to Twitter expressing their disappointment over why a brilliant player like Samson has been left out. Netizens flooded the BCCI’s comment section asking why various players, especially Samson did not make it to the squad.
We cannot help but agree with the fact that Sanju Samson indeed deserves to be in the Indian team and it’s quite unfair to leave him out despite his consistent performances.
