When Sanju Samson gets going, it’s hard to stop him. On Saturday night in the second T20I against West Indies, he got going once again as he lit up Ranchi with his batting fireworks by scoring 82 off just 41 balls.
The result was the end of his brief lean patch in the previous four innings, which had seen him score only 9, 7, 2 and 11, as he decided to take the initiative against Windies. Although he was initially dropped on six, he could not be stopped thereafter. On the very next ball, he got a free hit at the expense of Akeal Hosein’s no-ball and hit it for a six, thus giving him the upper hand.
The wicketkeeper batter notched his fifty off just 21 balls, and by the end of the powerplay, India had accumulated 79 runs with Abhishek Sharma (20) back in the hut. Samson maintained the run rate by pairing with Ishan Kishan (43), as they did not allow Abhishek’s exit to affect the run rate.
The duo shared a 97-run stand for the second wicket, which set the platform for India to score 249/5 in 20 overs.
There was increasing pressure on Samson to break the shackles that had held him back in the last few innings, but the wicketkeeper began his innings in Ranchi with the necessary intensity.
Samson himself pointed out that the demand for T20 is such that low scores in three to four innings aren’t exactly a rough patch and shouldn’t be considered a failure.
“I think we all know in this format the result is not in your hands, but there is only one way to go. So you can’t say I’ve had bad three innings, so let’s take some time, let’s build my innings and then we will see. No, there is only one way to go. I think team is in front,” Samson told broadcasters after the first innings. “My job is to just give a great start for my country, and I try to do that, and I take the responsibility when I get out also. So that’s totally fine, and I’m taking the blame on me.”
He managed to score a couple of half-centuries against Afghanistan, but later at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, he went through a difficult period, which carried over into the first match against West Indies, where he scored 11.
Although there was an early drop in Ranchi that might have led him to follow the same script, it did not alter his batting approach, as he continued to show the same attacking instinct that has always been a hallmark of this Indian T20I team.
In his last four matches, there was also a certain amount of pressure on him since the young Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was waiting for his turn, but Samson proved the team management right in their confidence in him.
Sanju Samson gets his mojo back
There was indeed a touch of the performances he gave in the T20 World Cup knockout rounds, having scored 97, 89, and 80 in the three matches that followed. On Saturday, too, he was not able to register a century, being outdone by Shamar Springer after scoring 82, but milestones have barely been a priority for him. He tried to hit a big shot over the boundary, but mistimed it and Kamil Pooran took the catch.
The 31-year-old also opened up on his batting approach and mindset when he gets set in the middle.
“I just try to just look at the ball and have a very positive frame of mind. I think if the ball is in my area, I definitely go for it. So it doesn’t matter if it’s over cover or if it’s over long on. So it depends where the bowler is bowling. I don’t like to get a bit premeditated. I just like to be blunt, watch the ball and back my instincts,” he added.
As he finds his groove again, it will be interesting to see whether he will carry the same rhythm in the next three matches of the series.
