Sanju Samson may be enduring a lean run, but former India batter Cheteshwar Pujara believes the wicketkeeper-batter deserves something more valuable than another chance, backing and security from the team management.With India leading the five-match T20I series 1-0 after an eight-wicket win over the West Indies in Lucknow, Samson’s form has become one of the talking points ahead of the second T20I in Ranchi. He managed only 11 in the series opener, extending a string of low scores that also included 9, 7 and 2 during India’s recent Asian Games campaign.However, Pujara feels India should resist the temptation to make changes based on a couple of failures and instead allow Samson to rediscover his rhythm.
‘There shouldn’t be any questions around his place’
Pujara believes Samson’s pedigree and recent contributions should give him enough credit in the bank to withstand a few failures.“I hope that there is no pressure on him, because there shouldn’t be. He has won a World Cup for the Indian team and performed exceptionally well there. He’s a quality player. So there shouldn’t be any questions around him being part of the playing XI,” Pujara told JioHotstar.The former India batter stressed that T20 cricket naturally comes with failures and that the team management’s role becomes even more important when a player goes through a difficult phase.“Yes, you might have one or two bad games, and then if he has that, that’s the time when the team management has to step in, to give him the right message that, ‘You are an important part of this team and will be part of this playing XI, so just go out there, express yourself, play your natural game,'” he said.Pujara also acknowledged that young batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is waiting in the wings, but believes India should not rush into making changes.“And in a T20 format, there’ll be some failures in between. But that’s the time when you talk to a player, give him the right message. Yes, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is there, he will get his opportunity when the right time comes, but you don’t make too many changes. If Sanju plays another two or three innings, I’m sure he will perform exceptionally well,” he added.
Pujara backs Abhishek after Lucknow setback
Pujara also came to the defence of another India batter who endured a disappointing outing in the series opener, Abhishek Sharma.The explosive opener got off to a positive start against the West Indies’ seamers but fell to off-spinner Roston Chase while attempting to clear the field. Pujara felt the dismissal was more a case of poor shot selection than a sign of any technical or form-related concern.“Abhishek got off to a good start against seamers, but Shai Hope quickly realised that on that Lucknow pitch there was enough assistance for the spinners. Abhishek’s record against off-spinners hasn’t been great, though he’s improved that number significantly,” Pujara said.He felt Abhishek could have chosen a better option against Chase, with his attempted shot ending up in the hands of the long-off fielder.“At Lucknow again, it looked like he wasn’t in the best frame of mind against spinners. His options, especially against Roston Chase, could have been slightly better. He wanted to hit that ball over covers, but eventually it ended up going to long-off.”
‘He will be raring to go’
Despite the setback, Pujara remains confident that Abhishek will bounce back quickly, pointing towards the youngster’s ability to strike the ball cleanly.“I’m sure he will learn this very quickly, because he’s timing the ball well. The turnaround time between the games wasn’t ideal, so with one game, you don’t judge him too much. It was just one of those off days for him, but in the second T20I, he will be raring to go,” he concluded.
