Veteran India opener Gautam Gambhir feels that with the century in the 3rd ODI, Sanju Samson has restarted his career but it will be interesting to see how India will persist him. The flamboyant wicketkeeper played a sensible knock and flourished in the anchor role to help India post a challenging total against South Africa on a tricky batting surface.
The 29-year-old batted at the number 3 spot and hit 108 runs off 114 balls which included 6 fours and 3 sixes. He never looked in a hurry and paced his innings well while other Indian batters failed to convert the start it into a big score. It was the ideal batting position for him as it’s the same as where he bats for his domestic side and IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals.
Samson was dismissed on 108 as he tried to up the ante as a skier off pacer Lizaad Williams was snaffled by Reeza Hendricks inside the rings.
Gambhir talked about Samson’s knock and said it has kickstarted his international career.
“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.
However, with less focus on ODI matches, Gambhir feels it will be interesting how the Indian management will persist with Samson from here on.
“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,” he added.
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