Ex-India star proudly declares himself a Sanju Samson fanboy

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has lauded Sanju Samson ahead of the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025.

Manjrekar had earlier backed Sanju Samson over Pant as India's second keeper for CT 2025. Pant has been brilliant for India in Test cricket so far, winning a lot of games for his team. However, his records in ODIs and T20Is aren't too impressive. However, he has immense potential to turn things around in any format of the game.

On the other hand, Samson has a good ODI record in the limited 50-over international matches he has played so far. Recently, he has been in excellent form in T20Is for India and has shown how destructive he can be when he gets going.

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Sanjay Manjrekar hails Sanju Samson

When asked about Sanju Samson's mantra for his recent success in T20I cricket, Sanjay Manjekar claimed that Samson is looking more confident and is putting more price on his wicket.

"Self-confidence, slight maturity, and he is valuing his wicket a little more. He is playing long innings and not just one but repeatedly. Some people blossom a little late and Sanju Samson is like that," Manjrekar said on Star Sports.

Manjrekar further noted that Samson is looking to bat long now which is working for him. According to him, he was batting nicely earlier as well but the consistency was not there.

"I am a big fan of him now. It seemed earlier that he was batting well but where were the runs. Now the batting is anyway mighty, even the runs are there," the former India batter observed.

Glad to see the kind of success that he has been blessed with currently - Sanjay Bangar on Sanju Samson

Meanwhile, former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar has also been highly impressed with Sanju Samson and he lauded the Kerala wicketkeeper-batsman for his six-hitting ability. Bangar opined that the Gautam Gambhir-led team management giving a longer rope to Sanju Samson has worked in his favor.

"Glad to see the kind of success that he has been blessed with currently. He has been there for a long time. It's just that he has got the right opportunities and a good run of opportunities because every batter, if he is playing three or four matches in a row, that frees him a little bit," he said.

"Batting up the order, he doesn't really have to worry about the situation. The field is up and he is a six-hitter. He can hit sixes with ease. After Yuvraj Singh, if there is one batter who can do it with such ease on a consistent basis, it has to be Sanju Samson. So just to see him firing on all cylinders is a treat to watch," Bangar observed.

Samson's excellent record in white-ball formats presents a strong case for India's squad in the Champions Trophy. However, he hasn't played an ODI since December 2023 which can work against his favor.

KL Rahul has a strong chance of being selected in the squad after impressive performances in the ODI format in the middle order. Rahul has played 2851 runs in 77 ODIs at an average of 49.15 and a strike rate of 87.56 which makes it hard for him not to be considered again.

Rishabh Pant doesn't have impressive ODI numbers which can work against him. However, the selectors have shown faith in the left-hander's devastating ability irrespective of the format.

Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant's numbers in ODIs

Sanju Samson boasts an impressive ODI record with 510 runs in 16 matches at an average of 56.66 and a strike rate of 99.60. The 30-year-old right-hander has struck 1 hundred and 3 fifties in his ODI career so far.

On the other hand, Rishabh Pant has played 43 ODIs so far and scored 2948 runs at an average of 33.50 and a strike rate of 106.21 with 1 hundred and 5 fifties. He featured in India's last ODI played in August 2024 against Sri Lanka.