To Be Honest It Is Not The Easiest Condition To Bat - Rahul Dravid Defends Sanju Samson's Low Scores In T20Is vs Sri Lanka

Rahul Dravid, India‘s head coach on the recently concluded tour of Sri Lanka, opined on Sanju Samson’s performance on the tour. The Rajasthan Royals captain started on a positive note, scoring 46 runs in the third ODI. But that remained his highest score on the tour as his next three knocks of 27, 7, and 0 were disappointing.

Now, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the right-hander is out of contention for a spot in India’s T20 World Cup squad. He has, in total, scored 117 runs at a strike rate of 110.38, with a best of 27, in his 10-match T20I career so far.

Rahul Dravid, however, pointed out that the conditions in Colombo were bowling-friendly, and not only Sanju Samson but other young batsmen also found it difficult to score runs. But, he also asserted that Samson would be disappointed.

“I think to be honest it is not the easiest condition to bat in. Obviously, he got a chance in the one-day game and got a very good start of 46 runs, but in the T20s he probably batted well in the first one, however the last one couple of wickets have been a bit challenging.”

“But I guess when we look back on the series we would be a little disappointed but having said that I think it is not only Sanju, I think a lot of these young guys are talented young kids and terrific players, and we need to be patient,” he added.

The 26-year-old Kerala batsman, however, did show some good form before the Sri Lanka tour in the first half of the IPL 2021. Captaining the Royals he smacked 277 runs in 7 matches at a strike rate of 145.79, starting the season with a spectacular hundred – 119 off 63 balls – against Punjab.

The Royals are placed in the second half of the table. In the UAE leg of the tournament, Sanju Samson not only has to pull his team through, with plenty of English stars likely to be unavailable, and that he’d be required to do with individual performance.

Also Read: Watch: Shikhar Dhawan Gives Sri Lankan Players A Speech After T20I Series, Talks About His Process And Experience