IND vs SA: Had Sanju Samson Scored 70s Instead Of 30s, He Might Have Been In India's Squad – Harbhajan Singh On RR Skipper's Snub In South Africa T20Is

Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh said Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson has often thrown his wicket this season.

Samson has scored 421 runs in 15 innings at an average of 30.07 and a strike rate of 150.36 with just a couple of half-centuries. Samson has scored in the range of 20-40 on five instances and twice in 40-50.

Sanju Samson has thrown his wicket away too often: Harbhajan Singh

Samson was well settled in the Qualifier 1 against Gujarat Titans, 47 off 26 balls before he toe-ended to Alzarri Joseph off Sai Kishore’s bowling at the halfway of the RR innings.

Samson was snubbed from India’s squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against South Africa. Harbhajan said Samson had to convert his 20s and 30s into big scores to find a place in the Indian side.

“Sanju Samson has a lot of potential, but he hasn’t scored as many runs. He has made good 20s and 30s but has then got out due to his carelessness. He has thrown his wicket away too often against both spinners and fast bowlers. Had he scored 70s instead of 30s, he might have been in the Indian squad,” Harbhajan told Sportskeeda.

Jos Buttler didn’t look the best to me in Qualifier 1: Harbhajan Singh

Although Rajasthan Royals opener Jos Buttler scored 89 in the Qualifier 1, Harbhajan criticised the Englishman’s sloppy approach at the start of the innings.

“Jos Buttler didn’t look the best to me in Qualifier 1 although he did score runs. In the first half of IPL 2022, he played free-flowing knocks. It never looked like he was getting beaten and he played his strokes with authority. In the last match, though, there was a lot of uncertainty in his innings,” he said.

“He scored 37 in his first 35 balls. If he had gotten out at that point, he would have wasted a lot of deliveries. I don’t think this is the right approach. The 50 in 21 balls that he scored at the end should have come at the start. He thus needs to rethink his batting strategy,” he added.

RR will play Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Friday (May 27) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Also Read: RR vs RCB: Will Ego Come In Between Again? Aakash Chopra On Sanju Samson’s Battle With Wanindu Hasaranga