Sanju Samson’s strike against Afghanistan keeps Vaibhav Sooryavanshi waiting – and the debate lives on

New Delhi: Mohammad Nabi moved to the left, hopped lightly on the long boundary rope, put his hands under the skin and held on. A few inches more and the ball might have missed him by six. Instead, he motioned “out” to umpire and examiner Rashid Khan. The Afghan spinner checked that the leg was planted safely and comfortably on the playing surface. As he got the nod, the 27-year-old went on to celebrate his second wicket of the over. Sanju Samson made a comeback after scoring 57 runs off 22 balls, hitting seven fours and four sixes along the way.In terms of rubber-stamping their places, it was Samson’s effort – 52 of his 57 runs were in boundaries. In the game of musical chairs he got involved with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Samson probably got the raw end of the deal. And here he was, once again hinting that he wasn’t going away easily.On the back of the T20 World Cup star who played a huge role in India winning the trophy, he was unceremoniously benched after a poor performance against Ireland. In came Sooryavanshi, who had not hit the ground running on his inauguration to the international stage. Samson then returned for the last two T20Is against England before missing the flight to Zimbabwe. There Sooryavanshi who went hammer and tongs and proved to be the Man of the Match.Still, as the T20I series against Afghanistan rolled around, Samson was picked to open the innings alongside Abhishek Sharma. He started the streak with just 10 before producing the goods in the second contest.Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi bore the brunt of his prolific firing at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday. The former scored 23 off 10 balls while the latter scored 22 off seven deliveries. The aspect that stood out and stands out in most of Samson’s strokes is the ease with which he clears the field.A scorching start to the fifth over from Omarzai sent over the mid-fielder. Another ball, short and splashing down the leg side, sent him over the fine leg region. He was then pitched and again met with treatment: he slashed over the cover, one bounce and into the hands of the Volunteers. To end the over, Samson turned a low full pitch with the full face of his bat, knocking down the stumps at the non-striker’s end and still beating the fielder for four!

Sanju Samson

Even Rashid Khan was hit for a four and a six off the Afghan spinner and the rest of the bowlers may have breathed a collective sigh of relief.“It’s about just guarding the ball and trying to get the most out of the power play. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. After a few setbacks, you definitely go through a lot. Being an Indian cricketer, it’s not easy to face setbacks, but that’s where my experience comes in,” he said at the post-match press conference.“I try to keep the noise down, I try to be confident and go out and still score at a high strike rate, even if I take risks, even if I know that if I fail again, I will face a lot of noise. But I think that’s the way we are set up here in Indian cricket. I just go out there and try to give my best and contribute,” he continued.As Samson took the crease in the first T20I, and not Sooryavanshi, experts were divided. Kris Srikanth claimed that Sooryavanshi was “not handled properly”. Meanwhile, R Ashwin pleaded with selectors, coaches and others to “understand his position”. And yet Samson realizes how difficult this call is between the two of them.“It’s a very tough spot. Right from the whole team management, from the captain, the coach and the selectors. It’s actually a very tough choice. All of them (he, Sooryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma) are really good, all of them are performing and all of them have to get the right opportunity to continue to perform at the international level,” said Samson.“It’s a very difficult decision. I totally understand that. I run an IPL franchise so I know how difficult these decisions are and everyone has done really well.”“I’ve been in this kind of space for quite a few years now, so I just know how to balance it. Just think about what I have control over and try to be very positive about your competitors as well.”“I think they are competitors to the outside world, but we are a team and we play for the country. We want to win the game first and then it comes down to the other individuals.”“We try to be as positive as possible and whoever plays, we want them to do well. We just have to be ready for our own opportunity. We can’t sulk or be in a negative frame of mind and think, ‘Yaar, mujhe nahi mila, usko kyun diya?’ That kind of thinking doesn’t work here,” he explained.So far, Samson seems to have stopped the debate by knocking in New Delhi. But whether it is enough to get a longer rope with continued chances remains to be seen.