- “Sanju is my first choice, he is your obsession,” Ashwin told fans while mocking Samson. Ravichandran Ashwin has responded to a social media user who questioned his support for Sanju Samson as India’s preferred T20I opener after the wicketkeeper’s inconsistent performance against New Zealand. “Sanju is my first choice, he is your obsession,” Ashwin tells fans, mocking Samson.
- (Source: Gettyimages) Sanju Samson’s performance during India’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand was inconsistent despite an encouraging start.
- The Kerala keeper-batsman started with a solid performance of 67 runs in the first encounter, but managed just 14, 18, 4 and 4 in the following games and scored 107 runs in the five games.
“Sanju is my first choice, he is your obsession,” Ashwin told fans while mocking Samson. Ravichandran Ashwin has responded to a social media user who questioned his support for Sanju Samson as India’s preferred T20I opener after the wicketkeeper’s inconsistent performance against New Zealand. “Sanju is my first choice, he is your obsession,” Ashwin tells fans, mocking Samson.
(Source: Gettyimages) Sanju Samson’s performance during India’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand was inconsistent despite an encouraging start. The Kerala keeper-batsman started with a solid performance of 67 runs in the first encounter, but managed just 14, 18, 4 and 4 in the following games and scored 107 runs in the five games. India won the series 3-2, although New Zealand won the last two games to reduce the deficit.
Ravichandran Ashwin, the former Indian off-spinner, has always backed Samson as his preferred choice for the opening spot in the Indian T20I. When a social media user mocked Samson’s selection and questioned the decision, Ashwin responded with a pointed remark in Hindi that highlighted the contrast between his strategic preference and the critic’s parents’ fixation on the batsman’s current form. “Sanju is my first choice, he is your constant obsession,” Ashwin wrote on X, responding to fans’ repeated criticism of Samson’s inconsistent performance on the show.
Samson’s struggle and Ashwin’s support Samson’s struggle in the middle of the series highlighted the challenges India faced in achieving consistency at the top of the order. His dismissal for four runs in the fifth T20I in Hamilton highlighted the difficulties he faced against the New Zealand bowling attack, which exploited the seaming conditions and variable bounce throughout the contest. After his absence from the T20 Internationals in Zimbabwe, where Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was named player of the series, Samson returned for India’s home series against Afghanistan.
The wicketkeeper showed improved form in this series with scores of 10, 57 and 50, indicating a return to the consistency that had made him a contender for the number one spot in India’s T20I plans. Skipper Shreyas Iyer looked at India’s performance in the fifth game in Hamilton and acknowledged both the team’s efforts and opportunities for improvement. Iyer noted that despite the difficult conditions, India managed to post a competitive total and had a chance to win the series early.
“It was plausible, honestly. Given the start in the middle and the way Ishan and I created the momentum, we could have done better. And from then on we lost two wickets in a row.
And then suddenly the pressure was on the new batsman,” Iyer said after the game. The Indian camp addressed the difficulty of batting on the Hamilton pitch, where the seaming conditions and variable bounce made stroke play difficult for the visitors’ batsmen. Both Iyer and Tilak Varma succumbed to similar deliveries that exploited the tough length and movement available to the New Zealand bowlers.
“It wasn’t an easy wicket to play on, especially when the ball sank and caught something. And sometimes it slips. You must have seen some of them; Tilak and I came out the same way.
So yes, it was challenging, especially given this difficult duration. But to get to 194, yeah, it was sensible, I think. I think we could have done better in our bowling and fielding.
We were a little careless,” he added.
