'Will India even persist with Sanju Samson after this 100?': Gambhir points out valid concerns despite 'career restart'

Gautam Gambhir isn’t sure about Sanju Samson’s place in the Indian team despite the latter’s century

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir believes Sanju Samson has in a way ‘restarted’ his career after scoring his maiden international century in the 3rd ODI against South Africa at Paarl on Thursday. Samson struck 108 off 114 balls, which ended up being a match-winning innings as India beat South Africa by 78 runs to win the series 2-1. In any other country, a century is enough for a player to secure a place in the Playing XI; however, in a team like India where there is no dearth of options, Gambhir isn’t certain whether Samson would be an automatic pick when the Men in Blue next play an ODI.

Samson, who made his India debut way back in 2015, is 29. If he is to remain in India’s plan of actions, not only will he have to keep scoring big, but do so until the next World Cup in 2027, by when he will be 33. Gambhir reckons that while there is still four years to go for it, Samson could be a wonderful batter-wicketkeeper option in India’s post-transition phase.

“We all know how much talent he has. Not just us, everyone has talked about it given the kind of innings he has played in the IPL. But today through this knock, somewhere he has kickstarted his international career. Before this, he always received sporadic chances – sometimes he would get a game, something he would be left out. But when you score a 100, you not only impress the selectors but even put pressure on them to pick you,” Gambhir said while talking to Star Sports.

“But we’ll have to see whether India will even persist with him after this century because the next World Cup is four years away. Still, the kind of quality player Samson is, I feel he should be persisted with. With his keeping, you have a very good option in the middle order. India will always have a strong and heavy top order but Samson will always give you that option in the middle. With this knock, Samson has restarted his career.”

India did not score a boundary between overs 20 and 29 and Samson himself wasn’t brisk to start off with. He was 30 off 40 balls before accumulating 26 runs between ball 41 and 81. However, in the last 34 balls Samson faced, he was able to accelerate and pick up 52 runs. With Tilak Varma also starting off slowly, Samson knew what he had to do, and emerged out a champion, forming the bedrock of India’s 296/8.

Gambhir hopes Samson gets a fair run

Despite being around for the last eight years, Samson is by no means a youngster, but Gambhir hopes that after last evening’s century, he is given a fair and longer run with the team now that India play limited ODIs over the next six-odd months.

“Such seamless switching of gears does not come without experience. He has played so much domestic cricket, T20 cricket, captained in the IPL, so he knows how to absorb pressure. Stuff like which bowler you plan to take on and those calculations are not easy. He started off slowly before he started to keep the scoreboard ticking and, in the end, went after. We all know how destructive he can be. This was a proper batter’s innings who has experience, calibre and class,” added Gambhir.

“When you have the ability to score big hits, you are never under pressure. This is just his 15th or 16th one-day game. He has been around the Indian team but hasn’t gotten too many opportunities. But the way he got a big score today, I hope he gets a consistent run from here and hope we get to see more of Sanju Samson.”

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