Sanju Samson, one of the most promising Indian batters in shorter formats, has a cult fan following owing to his exploits in the Indian Premier League (IPL) over the years and his natural game and mindset of having an impact on the game more than thinking about his personal milestones. Despite all the success, he has gotten in the IPL and the love from the fans, Samson hasn't been able to replicate his success in international cricket.
Yes, Samson hasn't gotten regular opportunities but with the seniors being slowly phased out, here is an opportunity for Samson and other such young players to make their mark, especially in the shortest format. Samson made his debut in the format in 2015 but since then has played only 17 matches thus far.
After playing a quickfire knock with good positive intent in the ODI series decider, Samson managed to retain his place in the T20I side as well and is likely to play all five matches with the Ireland series to follow. Samson will hope to get some big scores to make himself undroppable, given there is a T20 World Cup to be played in 12 months' time in the very same conditions in the Caribbean.
Samson has played a total of 17 matches before the start of the West Indies T20I series and has scored just 301 runs. In the last 10 innings, Samson has returned scores of 10, 27, 7, 0, 39, 18, 77, 30*, 15, 5 spanning across three years, since 2020. In the last 10 innings, Samson has aggregated 228 runs at an average of 25.33 and a strike rate of 139. Samson's best in this period came against Ireland last year when he smashed a 42-ball 77 in Dublin.
Samson has a lot of improvement to make in the format at the highest level but if he gets regular opportunities, he might just turn his form around.
