• Home
  • Who Said What
  • Why Should Sanju Samson Come As Injury Replacement Shastris Dig At Gambhir

"Why should Sanju Samson come as injury replacement?" Shastri's dig at Gambhir

Soumyajit Dutta

Ravi Shastri takes a dig at Gautam Gambhir for ignoring Sanju Samson [Source: @awaara_samay/X]Ravi Shastri takes a dig at Gautam Gambhir for ignoring Sanju Samson [Source: @awaara_samay/X]

The Sanju Samson debate in the Indian cricket circle has been a hot topic for months, and after his recent quickfire in the IND vs SA 5th T20I at Ahmedabad, the debate has been reignited.

Ravi Shastri, India’s former coach and now a commentator, has taken a subtle dig at Gautam Gambhir and the management for benching Sanju Samson despite his potential.

Ravi Shastri lashes out on air to back Samson

While doing a commentary stint for the fifth match between India and South Africa, Ravi Shastri pulled the jibe on air after Sanju Samson played a beautiful lofted drive to send a delivery from Marco Jansen over the covers. Reacting to the shot, Shastri was animated.

“When you see him batting like this, sometimes you think why he is not in the side in the first place? Why should it be an injury that brings him in. He is just a natural for that position in the top of the order. Because of shots like these, he is explosive and dangerous,” Shastri said on air, hinting at the persistent chase of the management to make Shubman Gill an all-format player.

How good is Sanju Samson as an opener?

Indeed, Sanju Samson is dangerous in that position in the T20I setup. Sanju Samson opened with Abhishek Sharma in the match, and as per data, ‘opener Sanju’ has a strike rate of 178.03 at an average of 32.88 from 18 T20I matches. 

Shubman Gill, meanwhile, has an average of 28.03 and a strike rate of 138.60 from 36 T20I games.

Samson partnered with Abhishek for 63 runs while also paired up with Tilak Varma for 34 runs before getting dismissed in the 10th over by George Linde.

Samson’s quickfire helped India push past the total of 100 in 10 overs as the hosts posted a mammoth 231 for South Africa to chase. The visitors faltered under pressure from Varun Chakaravarthy and Jasprit Bumrah, to lose the match and the series by 30 runs.