Sanju Samson was dismissed cheaply in Chennai T20I. [Source: @Sachin_Gandhi7/X]
Since the start of 2024, India wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson has scored 467 runs at an average of 38.91 and a strike rate of 173.60 across 14 T20I innings. A period in which Samson has not only received chances but the freedom to has been an eyewitness to him scoring three centuries, one half-century and five ducks.
If, for a moment, those centuries are ignored, all the Rajasthan Royals captain has managed since the start of the last year are 140 runs at an average of 12.72 and a strike rate of 120.68. Now, these are exactly the numbers which would get Samson dropped for another time in his career.
Frankly speaking, brushing aside someone’s best innings is never a wise way to judge a player. But the point which I want to convey is Samson’s blank blunders between his brilliant performances.
Sanju Samson Needs To Prophylactic His Spot
Even though the current team management has supported him extensively, Samson would want to make amends by plugging the gaps between his lionhearted knocks to prophylactic his spot in the national team.
Now, this piece is not intended to initiate a petition around dropping Samson. In my honest opinion, he should be handed a longer rope. In my honest opinion, any batter with three T20I hundreds within five innings should be made to sit on a pedestal. In my honest opinion, Samson, whose strike rate is among the best in this format in the last 12 months, should be treated as a strong contender for India’s ICC T20 World Cup 2026 squad.
The right-handed batter, however, on his part, should prevent himself from registering consecutive ducks twice within four months to allow critics to pin unnecessary blame on him.
If truth be told, just two failures after a century deserve mercy especially in the risk-oriented shortest format. It’s just that Samson, due to the cut-throat competition that he faces as an opener, should look to convert single-digit scores into a start more often.
For someone who often finds himself abandoned strangely anytime a change has to be made to the Indian squad, Sanju Samson can’t afford so many failures including the latest one against England in Chennai where he returned to the pavilion after scoring 5 (7) against high-quality pace bowling.