Sanju Samson can consider himself extremely unlucky to be dropped from the Indian squad for the forthcoming Twenty20 International (T2OI) series against the West Indies. The aggressive Kerala wicketkeeper-batsman was part of the Indian squad which won the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh. Sanju, who was picked as a specialist batsman, did not get to play a single one in the three-match series and now has been shown the door by the M S K Prasad-led selection committee in its final meeting.
The selectors can always reason that with captain Virat Kohli back in the squad after taking a break in the Bangladesh T20I series there was no way they could have picked Sanju. But it doesn't make any sense to pick a player and then dump him without giving him even a single opportunity. Further it can easily have a demoralising effect on the player as his confidence invariably takes a beating.
The selectors and the team management have made it clear that Rishabh Pant is their number one choice as wicketkeeper-batsman. The under-fire Delhi player has been given another chance to cement his place in the Indian team in the shortest format before the new selection committee takes charge. With less than a year to go for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in Australia it would have made sense to try out Sanju in the Windies series. The interesting thing to note here is that the selectors don’t rate Sanju highly as a stumper.
It has to be said that Sanju did not help his cause in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy National Twenty20 Championships. The 25-year-old failed to produce a single match-winning knock as Kerala failed to qualify for the Super League. Sanju has to be more consistent so that it will be tough for the selectors to overlook him in future.
There has been no question mark over his quality, but unfortunately the same can't be said about his consistency. The competition for a place in the Indian team is intense and only a consistent run of scores will give the elegant right-hander a chance to stake his claim. Also Sanju needs to work hard both on his wicketkeeping and fielding skills to give himself the best chance to earn a recall.
