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What Is Wrong With Sanju Samson? The Mysterious Selection Saga Continues

image-lms880zrSanju Samson in Indian colours (X.com)

"It is what it is !! I choose to keep moving forward" - This is how Sanju Samson vented out  his frustration after he was ignored for the ODI series against the Aussies, India's last dance before the World Cup. It is probably the first time, he has reacted to his non-selection and clearly the latest setback has come as a rude surprise for the man who has done everything he could do in his short ODI career. 

KL Rahul is leading India in the initial two ODIs as the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya have been rested. Still, the player who was the travelling reserve in the Asia Cup squad got bypassed by a bunch of players who were neither in the Asia Cup squad nor in the ODI series against the Windies where Sanju Samson scored a quickfire fifty. 

That fifty was in his last ODI and it seems that there is something wrong in the way he is scoring his runs, at least from the team management and selectors' point of view. It is quite baffling though, if his style of play is a problem, because, not long ago, the only reason for Samson's non-selection in Indian colours was said to be his inconsistency. 

Now, when he has scored runs in his brief 12 innings career at an average of 55.71 and a strike rate of 104 with five not outs in it, it is pretty hard to make sense of his non-selection in what is apparently a B-team. 

It is not only about this series though, Sanju's selection and non-selection has always been a matter of great debate and though many seems to agree that he has the talent and now stats as well, there are some mysterious vibes around how he always finds himself at the wrong side of the spectrum when big events come calling. 

Sanju Samson - An Overrated Cricketer With Blind Fandom?

Sanju though somehow, despite playing very limited games for India has been able to attract a loyal fanbase that seems to come up with virtual protests like #JusticeForSanju. Is this just a blind fandom or is there anything more to it. In this world of ruthless social media bashing where polarisation has reached its zenith, it is important to be extra careful and objective while choosing your heroes and anti-heroes.

So, let's try to delve into various parameters that are generally believed to be the the criteria for selection in the Indian team. 

Stats and performance in pressure games (ODIs)

As mentioned earlier, Sanju's ODI numbers are pretty impressive but the sample size of just 12 innings, create an element of doubt. Many argue that he has not scored runs against quality sides but one can do that only when he or she gets an opportunity to do so, sadly in Samson's case, those opportunities have been rare.

If one keeps aside his games against the so-called weak teams like Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe. There are only four games one can look at - 3 against South Africa and one against the Kiwis.

In the three games against a strong full-strength South African bowling attack, Sanju Samson was unbeaten on all occasions which included scores of 86*, 30*, 2* while batting in the lower middle order.

 In the first ODI, India were reduced to 51-4 on a tricky pitch while chasing 250 in 40 overs, Sanju coming in at 6, weathered the storm and from 15 off 21 balls, accelerated swiftly despite India losing wickets at regular intervals and almost took India over the line with 86 off just 63 balls. 

In the next two games, he stayed unbeaten again and finished off the chase and when the next opportunity came calling on the New Zealand tour, he scored a brisk 36 off 38 balls, losing his wicket in the 46th over while trying to up the ante. In the same  game, the likes of Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav who batted at number 4 and 5 respectively scored just 15 and 4, but it was Samson who was dropped for the remaining two ODIs of the series and only got his next opportunity on the Caribbean tour in 2023 where he scored a fifty in the two ODIs he got.

Talent

From a bit of quantitative analysis, let's move into some qualitative one. We have often seen people talking about backing a talent, giving a particular person a longer rope based on their sheer talent. India's current captain Rohit Sharma is a product of that philosophy and many other players from the current lot like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav (ODIs) have received backing despite their failures.

The talent word has been synonymous with Sanju as well since his under-19 days. The Kerala lad played U-19 World Cup in 2014 and in the same year, got his first India senior side call-up on India's tour to England. He played only one solitary T20I for India in next 5-6 years, and the tag of 'talented yet notoriously inconsistent' with shades of brilliance in IPL came alongside everytime Sanju Samson's name popped up. The guy has matured quite a lot though in the last three years or so, as his ODI and IPL stats suggest, but the backing that one expect a talent to get, has been missing. 

Comparison with Suryakumar Yadav & Tilak Varma - The players in competition

Suryakumar Yadav has been selected in the World Cup squad while Tilak Varma got the nod in the Asia Cup and Australia series. Sanju Samson who has been ignored from all these squads, statistically has better record in ODIs than these two players. 

Sanju Samson vs Tilak Varma

If we talk about Tilak Varma, he has only played a single ODI so far where he scored 5 runs but made a good start to his T20I career against the Windies. However, the selection of a player who has not played a single ODI and just 26 List A games directly in the Asia Cup, seems out of place, that too with World Cup just around the corner, over a player who has been in the scheme of things for two years and has done quite well. 

The reasons that Tilak Varma is a left-hander and provides a part-time option with the ball are valid but are those reasons strong enough to bring a player with literally no experience of ODI cricket directly in big events like Asia Cup and if needed in the World Cup. Surely there are many who bat left-handed and can bowl too in India's domestic circuit. Do we have to try all of them? Let your great cricketing mind work this out!

Sanju Samson vs Suryakumar Yadav

Now, let's move to the player who has been selected in the World Cup. SKY, as Suryakumar Yadav is fondly known has been one of the best T20I batters for couple of years now. However, his ODI stats have been below-par to say the least. He averages 24.40 which is less than half of Sanju Samson's and has a strike rate of just under 100. SKY has also batted in 25 innings, compared to 12 innings that Samson got.

His T20I exploits though has earned him chances in ODIs, with everyone expecting him to be a x-factor and a game-changer for India. His explosive and risk-taking abilities are highly appreciated but the same risk-taking ability of Sanju Samson is criticised for being unsuitable in ODI format despite the stats in ODIs proving the opposite.

Samson is a wicketkeeper and can bat at any position right from the top of the order to number 6. However, SKY is majorly looked as a lower-middle order batter in ODIs after he failed miserably in ODI series against Aussies in March 2023, bagging three consecutive golden ducks. So, Samson clearly provides more flexibility and can be a good backup, in case he is needed.

The List A stats are almost identical with Suryakumar Yadav averaging just 33.91 in 129 matches while Sanju Samson averages 32.35. 

Besides all these, Sanju Samson has been conveniently ignored, not only from the World Cup squad and the ODI series against Australia, but also from the Asian Games squad. Clearly, the criteria and transparency of these big selection decisions will be and should be  questioned. The selection of the national team should reflect the democratic and inclusive nature of the country and let's hope this mysterious dark selection saga has a light at the end of this long tunnel.