India’s batting unit at the T20 Asia Cup boasts an incredible 12 international centuries. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav, whose bat has gone cold in the last few months, alone has four of them, while red-hot opener Abhishek Sharma and his fellow left-hander Tilak Varma have two apiece. Vice-captain Shubman Gill possesses one hundred. Just behind Suryakumar in the list of centurions is Sanju Samson, with three. And yet, India are struggling to fit the Samson piece into their batting jigsaw.
That India are able to keep Samson down to No. 8 in their batting line-up is either the ultimate indication of the embarrassment of riches at their disposal, or a seemingly tacit acknowledgement that even though they have earmarked a middle-order role for the wicketkeeper-batter, they aren’t entirely convinced that that’s where he belongs.
In the 14 months since India won the World Cup last year, Samson has made a name for himself at the very top. Three hundreds and a half centuries in 11 T20Is between July 14 and November 15, all of them in the first four, was confirmation enough that after several years of yo-yoing in the batting order, Samson had finally found his calling. Around these milestone knocks, there were four ducks in that same 11-innings span, but that’s something the decision-makers were willing to overlook as the result of an aggressive approach that India are wearing like a second skin.
The move to reintegrate Gill with the T20I set-up for the Asia Cup fuelled the necessity to find a new position for Samson. The top four as a norm was almost set in stone – Abhishek and Gill, followed by Suryakumar and Tilak. That translated to Samson being at best a regular No. 5, if there is any such thing in contemporary 20-over cricket. But on Wednesday against Bangladesh, Samson wasn’t required to bat at all, even though India lost their fifth wicket in their 15th over.
Samson came into the Asia Cup with an underwhelming run in the T20 game. His international form was iffy – 51 runs in his preceding five innings, all against England – though that was in January-February. He didn’t have his customary high-yield IPL either; a finger fracture in the final outing against England and a side strain later in the competition reduced his appearances to nine games, which weren’t hugely productive as he finished with 285 runs. His confidence wasn’t at its highest, though Gautam Gambhir publicly threw his weight behind the experienced batter.
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Having started his T20I career in July 2015 at No. 7, Samson had to reinvent himself in the middle order, which he hadn’t occupied for huge chunks in the decade subsequently. There was a massive case for Jitesh Sharma, coming off a wonderful run for champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru, to slot into the middle order, but India are big on consistency and value of opportunity, so they decided to stick with Samson.
The right-hander didn’t get to bat in India’s first two Group A games, which they won by nine and seven wickets against the UAE and Pakistan, respectively. Batting at No. 3 against Oman, he conjured 56 off 45, three fours and three sixes, doing little to mask his travails as he struggled for the fluency and timing that are such Samson specials when he is at the top of his game. A drop down to No. 5 in the Super Four fixture against Pakistan yielded a 17-ball 1,3 marked by his inability to rotate the strike, which inevitably led to an ugly hoick against Haris Rauf that cost him his middle stump.
The Bangladesh game was the perfect chance for India to bat him at No. 5 again, preferably (8.5 overs remained in the innings when Abhishek was the third batter out), so that he could grow into that role and regain belief. India had 112 on the board in 11.1 overs; Samson could take a few deliveries and then get cracking, a sound theory that wasn’t put into practice. Hardik Pandya, Tilak and then Axar Patel all batted ahead of him, a somewhat nonplussed Samson looking on from the dugout as the Indian innings hit a trough.
Surely, India’s think-tank can’t assume that Samson is back in peak touch following a patchy half-century against Oman. If all the eggs are in the Samson basket, then he deserves a proper go. If Suryakumar and Gambhir aren’t entirely convinced that he is their middle-order answer, then it’s time to turn to Jitesh. Tempting as it might be to point out that Samson hasn’t helped his own cause, other factors leading to that eventuality must not be ignored. By hedging their bets, they are doing no one any favours. Least of all, a batter with three T20I centuries.
