Inconsistent or lack of chances? Sanju Samson's issues again come to fore in West Indies

IND vs WI: Former Australian coach and legendary batsman, Justin Langer once said that India is a team that produces batsmen of the highest order, and if someone is getting picked out of a billion people, you ought to be very good to wear that fabled blue jersey. This has been the case with the Indian men's team for quite sometime now, as there are three teams in place, and owing to the workload of the players, the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) chooses to rotate them in different series. India crashed out of the semi-finals of the 2022 T20 World Cup after losing to England and the Indian cricket team management is trying out and testing a different set of players who will go on to play in the 2024 T20 World Cup, but amid everything happening, there is one player whose consistency has been a huge issue for the 'Men in Blue'

3 things to know:

• Sanju Samson led Rajasthan Royals to the finals of IPL 2022
• India are taking on West Indies in a five-match T20I series
• Samson made his T20I debut for India in 2015

Sanju Samson's continued struggle with the bat

(Nicholas Pooran runs Sanju Samson out in the 1st IND vs WI T20I / Image: AP)

The Rajasthan Royals skipper is a wicketkeeper-batsman and at one point in time was considered to be MS Dhoni's apparent heir. Many cricket experts lauded Samson's talent when he burst onto the scenes and termed it as a misfortune that he had to compete with someone like MS Dhoni to make it to the Indian team, but even after Dhoni left, Samson continued to struggle and nothing seems to have changed till this point in time. In the ongoing T20I series against West Indies too, Samason has completely looked off colour and has been able to score only 12 and 7 runs in both the innings that he has played so far.

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The Indian team management has been heavily criticized for changing Samson's batting position, but the fact that Tilak Varma has been exceptional with the bat can't be discounted either. This puts Samson in a very peculiar position. With the ODI and T20I World Cup to follow this year and the next year, the wicketkeeper-batsman needs to deliver because once Rishabh Pant is fit, Samson might not be in the reckoning to wear the Indian blue ever again.

The Sanju Samson cult

(Sanju Samson during the IND vs WI 2023 ODI series / Image: AP)

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Sanju Samson is a name that has a cult following of his own. The effect of the Rajasthan Royals skipper is such that everybody wants to see him play. There is a huge uproar on various social media platforms when Samson is left out in the name of team combination and balance, but interestingly, whenever Samson gets a chance, more often than not, he ends up ruining it and fails to execute the responsibility given to him.