He Plays A Very High-Risk Game: Wasim Jaffer Delivers Worrying Verdict About Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson, on Tuesday (August 1), finally justified the faith shown in him by the Indian team-management by scoring a fine fifty against West Indies in the third and final ODI.

The right-handed batsman did not get a chance in the playing eleven for the first ODI. For the second ODI, the team-management decided to try out the likes of Sanju Samson and Axar Patel by resting senior players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. The Kerala star, however, could not grab the opportunity and was out for just 9 as India suffered a 6-wicket defeat.

Sanju Samson finally delivered with the bat in the third ODI. He came out to bat when India were in a spot of bother after losing two wickets in quick succession. Another wicket would have put West Indies on top. However, Sanju Samson and a well-set Shubman Gill steadied the ship and brought the innings back on track by adding 69 runs for the third wicket.

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The right-handed batsman showed remarkable confidence in his abilities. He hit the second ball he faced for a six to get going. The Rajasthan Royals skipper scored 51 off 41 deliveries with the help of 2 fours and 4 sixes. India went on to post a mammoth total of 351 for 5 and won the clash by 200 runs to clinch the three-match series.

Wasim Jaffer on Sanju Samson’s position in the team:

While Sanju Samson would be hoping that his latest knock helps him cement his spot in the Indian team, former India batsman Wasim Jaffer believes otherwise. The former opener has expressed his reservations about the wicketkeeper-batsman cementing his place as the No.4 batsman of the team.

“He (Sanju Samson) played well, but he plays a very high-risk game. If you look at his innings, he came out and hit those couple of sixes. It connected and went for six, but he could have gotten out if he had mistimed. That’s been the case with Sanju Samson. So, somebody to bat at No.4 and play like that, I have my doubts,” Jaffer told ESPNCricinfo.

“That’s fine if the team management gives him that licence, but consistency is also an issue. You want to be destructive, but you don’t want to score in two or three innings out of six. That’s my concern. Even in the IPL, we have seen that there are some good innings and some really lean patches. That’s been the case. So he needs to learn,” Jaffer added.

Sanju Samson is currently in the ODI team as a specialist batsman as the team prefers Ishan Kishan as wicketkeeper-batsman in the absence of KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant. He is likely to lose his place in the team once both Rahul and Shreyas Iyer return.