The exclusion of Sanju Samson from India’s T20I setup has raked up debate in the cricketing circle, with former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar is of the opinion that the Kerala batter should not be brought into the side if the team is not able to fit him into the top three.
He said that Samson playing in the middle-order is not going to desired results when a broadcaster asked if India could consider the option of dropping Tilak Varma in order to create a place for Samson in the playing XI.
India suffered their worst-ever T20I defeat when they lost to England by 125 runs in the third match of the five-match series.
Chennai Super Kings batter Sanju Samson was dropped for the second T20I in Manchester to make way for 15-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Samson scored just six runs in three T20Is, including the two matches against Ireland that India lost. His omission came only a few months after he was named Player of the Tournament at the T20 World Cup.
Nayar believes Samson should only be brought back into the team if he is allowed to bat in his preferred position.
“I really feel that if you have to get Sanju Samson back in, you want to position him in a place where he can succeed. Now, just because you want to bring him in, you’re going to bat him at No. 4, 5 or 6. It’s not something he’s done a lot. It’s not something he’s been successful at,” Nayar said.
“He’s been best suited when he’s opened or batted in the top three. So if you aren’t giving him that position, then I feel it’s better that you don’t play Sanju Samson and instead stick with the kind of batting line-up India has.”
India vice-captain Tilak Varma has also struggled on the tour of the UK. Apart from a well-made 56 off 45 balls, the left-hander has failed to score more than 20 in his other five innings. In the third T20I on Tuesday, he managed just three runs from 11 balls before being stumped by off-spinner Will Jacks.
Nayar said the Indian team should not make knee-jerk changes despite the poor results. Instead, he believes the players have struggled to adapt to the different batting conditions in Ireland and England after spending the IPL season on more batting-friendly pitches.
“They’ll have to reflect on it. Like Gautam Gambhir said, they’ve got 190 in two innings, but that is batting first. They struggled chasing because they haven’t assessed conditions enough. They haven’t found the right tempo to score runs,” Nayar said.
“You don’t want to press the panic button. You don’t want to make changes for the sake of it. If Sanju Samson has to come in, that’s all the management has to do: position him in a place where he can succeed.”
