India’s Sanju Samson (AP/PTI) Sanju Samson knocked in the captaincy when Kerala needed him the most as he held a shaky innings along with an unbeaten 73 in a low-scoring Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match against Andhra Pradesh at the AB Vajpayee Stadium in Lucknow. On a surface where every other batsman from Kerala failed to reach even 15, Samson stood tall and carried his side to 119 for 7. It was his second fifty of the current campaign. The Kerala skipper’s latest effort took his T20 total to 7,996 runs in 319 matches at an average of 30.06 and a strike rate of 136.75. The knock marked his 51st T20 half-century and completed his six career T20 hundreds. Of those, 995 runs have come in T20Is for India from 51 matches where he owns three centuries and three fifties.
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In SMAT, Samson has now compiled 19 half-centuries. This season alone, he has amassed 233 runs in six matches at an impressive 58.25, including scores of 51* (41), 43 (15), 46 (28) and now 73* (56). His domestic form comes at a time when questions remain about his role in India’s T20 set-up. Samson, who had an average Asia Cup but still finished as India’s third-highest run-getter with 132 runs – behind Abhishek Sharma (314) and Tilak Varma (213) – was pushed out of his preferred opening slot to accommodate Shubman Gill at the top. Despite boasting three T20I centuries as an opener, Samson was relegated to the middle and lower order during the Asia Cup and was later dropped after just one innings in the Australian T20I series. He is now part of India’s squad for the upcoming T20I against South Africa and his place in the playing eleven is far from guaranteed. With Jitesh Sharma also in the mix as a lower-order wicketkeeping option, the question remains: will Samson finally get a consistent run, or will he once again be left to watch from the sidelines?
