Last Updated on 9 months ago by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Should India pick Sanju Samson in their T20 World Cup XI? | Will India pick Sanju Samson in 2022 T20 World Cup squad?
Conditions tend to define a team’s ideal playing XI across the cricketing world. No matter the indispensability of a certain player, the side’s combination varies according to what the concerned track has to offer.
That is why the seasoned duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli straightaway walk into the Indian playing XI for the T20 World Cup in Australia this year regardless of their recent indifferent form in the shortest format of the game.
In that backdrop, a strong case is currently being made to rope in Sanju Samson to the Indian squad as the mega-tournament nears. Samson’s exclusion from the squad for the South Africa series had raised many eyebrows. However, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper made significant amends as he struck 77 runs off 42 deliveries in the second T20I vs Ireland at the backend of June 2022.
Possible Team Combination for India in the 2022 T20 World Cup
Barring any major surprises, the Indian playing XI appears to be well-settled for the Australian tourney. The top-three of Rohit, KL Rahul and Kohli select themselves. Concerns were raised over Rishabh Pant’s form but the southpaw has put them to rest with his maverick knock of 146 at Edgbaston in the fifth Test against England.
Pant will continue as India’s frontline wicket-keeper in Australia. Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja offer balance to the lower-middle order and Dinesh Karthik will most likely complement them with his finishing duties.
In such a scenario, India might have to compromise their bowling depth to fit two amongst the likes of Karthik, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer and Samson into the XI. Suryakumar was a part of the starting XI in the previous World T20 and Iyer averages 64.60 with a strike rate of 154.55 in nine T20Is in 2022.
Head coach Rahul Dravid has very publicly talked up the unique finishing skillsets that Karthik brings into the XI. So, where does that leave Samson in the mix?
Should India pick Samson in their T20 World Cup team? A look at what separates him of his competition
“That guy has got talent, man,” Indian skipper Rohit Sharma had said of Samson ahead of India’s T20I series vs Sri Lanka earlier this year.
Rohit added, “We see a lot of potential, we see a lot of match-winning ability in that individual. I hope we give him confidence whenever he gets the opportunity to play for us. His back-foot play is superb. Some of the shots you might have seen in the IPL… the pick-up pull, cut, standing and delivering. They are not easy to play, when you go to Australia, you need that kind of shot-making ability.”
Samson put up a great show of the aforementioned abilities in that series. He got to bat only twice but scored 57 runs at a strike rate of 154.05. For someone who has played nine T20Is in Australia, Rohit undoubtedly understands the specific abilities required to succeed in the hostile playing conditions Down Under.
In an interview with CricBlog during IPL 2022, New Zealand all-rounder and Rajasthan Royals teammate Jimmy Neesham labelled Samson as “one hell of a cricketer.” If he gets on the plane and is backed by a supportive team environment, he has the talent to deliver in spades.
Sanju Samson stats in the middle overs since IPL 2020
The pitches in Australia offer additional bounce, square boundaries are longer than usual and bowlers hit the deck hard in the middle overs to plug the flow of runs. A common factor that unites almost all successful T20 teams in recent times is their ability to adopt a proactive approach in the middle overs. They keep the run-rate upbeat and manage to hold on to their wickets to double up the scoring pace towards the backend of the innings.
Data from the 12th Khiladi reveals that Samson struck runs at a strike rate of 141.4 and 173.6 respectively between overs 8-12 and 12-16 respectively in phase two of IPL 2021 and all of IPL 2022. His strong base and foundation against express pacers in rare to find amongst many Indian batters. He is at ease whilst dealing with the shorter deliveries and has both the power and timing to send the ball sailing over the square boundaries.
According to Cricket.com, in IPL 2020 and 2021 combined, no non-opener recorded a better strike rate (150) than Samson in the middle overs (7-15) of the innings. During the same period, he struck runs at an average of 54.6 and strike rate of 138.6 against spinners in the league. This is in addition to his exemplary scoring rate of 165.1 vs pace bowlers in the aforementioned phase of the innings in those two IPL seasons.
Samson has hit 69 sixes in the last three IPL seasons, which roughly translates to a six in every 13th delivery that he faces. He has notched a four in every 8.27 balls in the previous three IPL campaigns. Overall, he has bagged a boundary after a gap of 5.06 deliveries whilst primarily batting in the middle-order.
These are extremely encouraging stats for any team in the lookout for a middle-order enforcer. In his own words, Samson has been eyeing to play knocks that are high on impact other than any other metric in limited-overs cricket. His proficiency against most kinds of dominant bowling types coupled with sublime timing and brute power to clear the ropes regularly make him an ideal suit to occupy a slot in the middle that glues the entire batting order together.
Will Samson manage to topple competition from his arguably more fancied teammates to get a spot in the XI for the T20 World Cup? It’s largely uncertain currently. But he has been trying to make the most of his chances in recent times.
More importantly, he has not altered his approach whilst attempting to do so. Instead, the 27-year-old has stayed true to his brand of cricket and it is the team management that is moulding its style to follow that template.
Such are the changing times. Such is T20 cricket.
