Sanju Samson vs Sanju Samson is a business legend

You may wonder why. In general, you feel that you have been judged by strict standards. A game here, another one there, clear statistics, but how has his time gone? You complain and grumble about injustice. Not really, the valuation of a cricketer in the shorter formats has changed. Running is not just running anymore. There are strong and soft streams, beaten in trouble, blown by the wind in smooth sailing; who turned the match; those who won sports, and those who are academically important. A healthy average, bolstered by five not outs, will mean nothing unless he plays innings of substance, something that jumps out of your memory as soon as you see him on screen.

He had time off. There is no greater opportunity than at St George’s Park. There was enough running, the captain batting on the other side, the new ball was messed up, and there were enough overs to make an impression, the time to be right in the eyes of the selectors. He got off the mark with a beautiful square drive, but later the innings descended into battle and then chaos. The pressure of the dot balls piled up and the end came as inevitable as the pull to the stumps. The way he runs is often the result of uncertain thoughts, his stiff arms and stiff legs heighten his fear and doubt.

Perhaps, he is a talented cricketer. Maybe, he will bloom one day. But so far, he has given the impression that just sitting there, experiencing the same thing over and over again does not bring wisdom, understanding or development. For all the good looks, it’s hard to keep the faith that there is talent to be had from him.

There are other examples of him wasting opportunities to become a hero. His best was against South Africa in Lucknow, where he smashed 86 not out off 63 balls. But in the end, India lost the match by nine runs. The fact that India came so close to South Africa’s total was courtesy of Sanju, but the time has long passed when Indians respected losing causes. In the next game, one of his teammates, Ishan Kishan, took his break and smashed 93 off 84 balls to win. Two innings later, he blasted two hundreds to steal ahead of Sanju in the race to qualify for the World Cup. Even Sanju’s two half-centuries contributed a lot to the super-hit game. The latter – 51 off 41 – made a total of 351/5, which was India’s fourth-highest run-scorer.

The only regret that Sanju has to have is that he was born in the wrong time, maybe even in the wrong age. He would have been a valuable asset, he would have plied his trade in the 90s, when India ran the gamut to find a wicketkeeper who could bat with skill, In the MS Dhoni era, it was not enough. it was too high for the Indian wicketkeeper but it came out strong again. None as exciting as Rishabh Pant, who had already broken several records of Dhoni in the longest form and broke the ODI code after the accident. KL Rahul came in and turned into a great, unimpressed with his keeping and judgmental DRS calls. As has always been the case, you are judged not only by the accepted standards, but also by those of the time. History tells you the hard-hitting batsmen who missed out on the international Spin Quartet milieu or the Ranji machine who never played a Test during the Fab Four’s reign.

So, logically, all Sanju can get is a game where the regulars are far away, or when Rahul is burdened with the responsibility of captain, batsman and keeper, as he did in this series, he leaves one. It’s up to him to take the day. If they do, others like Jitesh Sharma will come rolling in. It is his only way into the team – in the hybrid role of a wicketkeeper. He had never been in contention as a batsman, not least because of his List A average of 33. There were no more opportunities—higher hitting was too much pressure. Can you squeeze him when you have stars like Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer? Numbers 6 and 7 are usually assigned to rounders. Even if not, can Sanju bring back the explosiveness of Hardik Pandya or Ravindra Jadeja?

A lot of anger was spent on the selection of Suryakumar Yadav in the World Cup, even though he was a minor player. The move failed, but he has become too much of an undeniable talent in T20s to be overlooked. But Sanju had not unleashed any mind bending skills. He has done little in the T2OIs, to get into the conscience of the selectors.

It is also a myth that he was cut money. All 15 of his appearances have come in the last two years, not often for a player. Age does not benefit him either. When the next World Cup starts, he will be 33 years old. The selectors will be tempted to bleed those who are in their 20s to get enough experience at that time, who are lighting up the charts in IPL and domestic cricket.

In short, Sanju’s career has reached such a critical point that unless he does something spectacular, his days in international cricket are over. Not because they are less talented, but there are others who have better skills, who are better at seizing opportunities, who have entered the mind and memory of the decision makers, who have bought their time. Sanju, no doubt, will get more game time, but time is running out.

Sanju Samson sneaks away

South Africa, Gqeberha: India were comfortably bowled out at 114 for 3 in 26.2 overs. He could have slept and scored big, but he fell in the 12th and fell.

South Africa, Lucknow: From 51 for 4 in 17.4 overs, chasing 250, he resurrected India but did not use his end, as India failed by eight runs.

New Zealand, Auckland: After reaching 6, they got the ball 38-36, but were destroyed in the 46th over. It was a good chance to prove his late batting ability. But he failed and India lost by seven wickets.

West Indies, Bridgetown: He reached number 3 with a score of 90. But he took only 19 balls (9th). His struggle against spin bowling in the turning lanes was exposed.