Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson has been an enigma of sorts in recent times and although he has been more than consistent with his performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the 28-year-old has not been able to replicate the same kind of form in international cricket in whatever limited opportunities he has got to play for the Indian team. Samson scored 458 runs in 17 matches in IPL 2022 and finished the season with a healthy strike rate of 146. The Royals captain has had a decent start to IPL 2023 as well and so far has scored 159 runs in 6 matches with a strike rate of 160.60.
Talking about Samson not getting enough opportunities to play for India, former India selector Sarandeep Singh said that the Royals captain did get his chance as an opener in T20Is but he failed to make a mark in that series, adding that although his performance in the 50-over format is much better but with players like Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik – all available for selection, sometimes it gets difficult to get that many chances. Samson made his debut for India in T20Is in the year 2015 against Zimbabwe when Sarandeep was part of the selection committee.
“Sanju Samson got his chances as an opener in T20Is when we were selectors. We gave him a proper chance. But at that time, he wasn’t really able to make a mark. In the fifty-over games, he played in the middle-order and his performances were good. But what happens is, during the same time, there are other wicketkeeper-batters who perform well as well,” Sarandeep told Hindustan Times.
“Ishan Kishan scored a double-hundred recently. Of course, Rishabh Pant is there. Dinesh Karthik had also made a return last year. That’s why, sometimes you don’t get many chances,” he further added.
With the ODI World Cup set to take place in India later in the year, Sarandeep’s advice to Samson is to score as many runs as possible to help his case, and although winning the IPL for Rajasthan Royals would be great, the 43-year-old feels that it won’t be enough for Samson to make a return to the Indian squad.
“But I don’t necessarily believe that winning the IPL title would help his case. Because you may win the IPL, but what if you don’t score enough runs in the season? So, performances are the only criteria. If you’re scoring 700-800 runs in an IPL season, you will definitely get picked. Yes, winning the IPL title is important, but only performances can get you picked,” Sarandeep concluded.
