Sanju Samson’s 57 off 22 cements his role as preferred opener as India beat Afghanistan by seven wickets to seal the T20I series

Sanju Samson (BCCI Photo) NEW DELHI: It is not easy being Sanju Samson. He has consistently walked the line in his 10-year international career, partly because of the team dynamic and mainly because of his unmistakable inconsistency. As he has often done in his career when pushed into a corner, he reminded in the second T20I against Afghanistan on Tuesday night why it is difficult to dismiss his potential in T20 cricket.In seven overs, after the Indian bowlers had expectedly restricted Afghanistan to a meager 159/8 on an obviously slow pitch, Samson buried the ghosts of the Ireland and England tour with 57 off 22 balls in a cool and ruthless spell of ball-striking. In doing so, he effectively killed off the game and set the stage for Ishan to unleash an unbeaten 38 off 23 balls as India galloped to a seven-wicket series win in 14.5 overs.In the first two T20Is, India’s two preferred T20I openers Abhishek Sharma and Samson regained their form after a break from the T20 World Cup winning campaign at home in March. Nitish Kumar Reddy’s three overs at 3/24 would settle a few nerves in the management of a team that is struggling to zero in on a seam bowling all-rounder in the white-ball format.Without the big T20I task, barring the Asian Games later this month, which were held before 2028, this series had very little significance. Still, it was a series that could determine Samson’s international future. It was a series of banana peels for him. He couldn’t afford to slip up here, certainly not when there is an eagerness to give 16-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi a long run. His inconsistency caught up with him two months ago in the UK, where he failed to get a start in the four T20Is he played, forcing the team management to hand Sooryavanshi his international debut.Samson’s poker face and unassuming demeanor in the crease do not betray his destructive skills with the willow in hand. With each of his four sixes and seven boundaries, he set about destroying Afghanistan’s spin-bowling power in the Powerplay, dismissing doubts about his ability as a T20 batsman in Indian conditions.As Samson played a dominant hand in an 88-run opening partnership in 6.2 overs before Abhishek lost at deep mid-wicket to Sanju Samson for 39 off 19, the duo reminded the world of the treachery they can wreak in front-of-the-innings bowling attacks.The pitch here does not resemble the hard and flat concrete decks that India played in India during the T20 World Cup. This one is tired after hosting cricket for almost a year. Afghanistan’s spin attack of Mohammed Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Noor Ahmad has earned premium value in T20 leagues around the world due to its unconventional bowling style. Trailing by three matches in the series, Afghanistan left nothing to chance and unleashed their deadliest weapons up front in the second innings together. The pitch showed signs of delay and considerable turnover in the second half of the chase, but Samson decided to eliminate the threat before pouncing on Rashid inches from the long-on edge.Now that the series is sealed, it will be interesting to see if India give Sooryavanshi another shot in the third T20I on Thursday. But for now, Samson and Abhishek have ensured that the teenager will have to work harder to make it in this batting line-up.