‘There shouldn’t be any questions’: Pujara comes out in support of Sanju Samson ahead of West Indies 2nd T20I

Sanju Samson (Image: IANS) Sanju Samson may be enduring a lean ride, but former India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara believes the wicket-keeper batsman deserves something more valuable than another chance, support and security from the team management.With India leading the five-match T20I series 1-0 after an eight-wicket win over West Indies in Lucknow, Samson’s form has become one of the focal points ahead of the second T20I in Ranchi. He managed just 11 in the series opener, extending a run 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 few setbacks and instead allow Samson to rediscover his rhythm.

“There should be no questions around him.

Pujara believes Samson’s pedigree and recent contributions should give him enough credit in the bank to withstand a few failures.“I hope there is no pressure on him because there shouldn’t be. He won the World Cup for the Indian team and performed exceptionally well there. He is a quality player. So there should be no questions about him being part of the playing XI,” Pujara told JioHotstar.The former India batsman emphasized that T20 cricket naturally comes with setbacks and that the role of team leadership becomes even more important when a player is going through a difficult phase.“Yes, you can have one or two bad games and if he has, that’s when the team management has to step in to give him the right message that ‘You’re an important part of this team and you’re going to be part of this playing XI, so just go out, 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 be in a hurry to make changes.“And in the T20 format, there will be some setbacks in between. But that’s the time when you talk to the player, give him the right message. Yes, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is there, he will get an opportunity when the time is right, but you don’t make too many changes. If Sanju plays another two or three innings, I’m sure he will deliver. An exceptionally good performance,” he added.

Pujara backs Abhishek after Lucknow failure

Pujara also came to the defense of another Indian batsman who suffered a disappointing series opener, Abhishek Sharma.The explosive opener got off to a positive start against the West Indies seamers but fell on the spinner of Roston Chase while trying to clear the field. Pujara felt the dismissal was more a case of poor shot selection than a sign of any technical or formal concerns.“Abhishek started well against the seamers but Shai Hope quickly realized that there were enough assists for the spinners on the Lucknow pitch. Abhishek’s record against the off-spinners was not great, although he improved that number significantly,” Pujara said.He felt that Abhishek could have picked a better option against Chase when his attempted shot ended up in the hands of the outfielder.“Again in Lucknow, it looked like he wasn’t in the best of moods against the spinners. His options, especially against Roston Chase, could have been a bit better. He wanted to hit that ball over the covers but it ended up being long on.”

‘He will be reluctant to go’

Despite the setback, Pujara remains confident that Abhishek will bounce back quickly, which shows the youngster’s ability to hit the ball cleanly.“I’m sure he’ll learn very quickly because he times the ball well. The turnaround time between games wasn’t ideal so you can’t judge him too much on one game. It was just one of those off days for him but he’ll be raring to go in the second T20I,” he concluded.