Lucknow. Cricket fans are in an uproar. India’s longtime hero and former chief selector, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, has directly attacked head coach Gautam Gambhir.
He says what’s happening to Sanju Samson is completely wrong.
Samson is being sent to different positions in the batting order every match, which is eroding his confidence. This is happening during the ongoing T20 series against Australia.
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Srikkanth angrily said on his YouTube channel,
“I don’t understand what they are doing with Sanju Samson. He bats at 5 in one game, then suddenly at 4, 6, 7, or 8. And this match, he bats at 3.”
He further said, “That’s not fair. You’ve given him a fixed position. Mentally, only then can a batsman make up his mind. You can’t just keep shuffling the batting order. You’re ruining that boy’s confidence, which isn’t fair.”
Meaning, Samson is being rotated from No. 3 to No. 8. How is that fair? Only when a player gets a fixed position can he set his mind.
Sending Samson at No. 3 was a hasty decision
In the second T20 match, the ball was seaming on the Melbourne pitch. Samson was sent to No. 3 as soon as Shubman Gill was out. Srikkanth described it as a knee-jerk reaction.
He said, “Sending him at No. 3 was a knee-jerk reaction. They sent him there once the ball was moving around, and he also couldn’t do anything. You’re ruining the balance of the team, forget about the individual. Just because there was some zip in the wicket, you sent Sanju out to bat, and he got out immediately.”
Samson was LBW for 2 runs off just 4 balls. Srikkanth also said that Samson’s pads might not have been ready because he might have been thinking that Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma would go first.
“He must not have even had his pads ready and thought Suryakumar Yadav would go out at 3, followed by Tilak Varma at 4 and himself at 5. As soon as they saw the ball move around, Sanju was told to go out at 3. How’s that possible, doesn’t a batter need a mental make-up?” All this is disturbing the team’s balance.
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As a result, India was all out for 125 runs in just 19 overs. Australia chased down the target in 14 overs and took a 1-0 lead in the series.
Samson had previously scored three centuries as an opener, but after the return of Shubman Gill, he was pushed into the middle order. He also played well at number 5 in the Asia Cup, but the confusion continues.
At the moment, Srikkanth feels Samson is the first-choice wicketkeeper for the T20 World Cup, but this batting shuffling needs to stop.
