Former India batter Suresh Raina has backed Sanju Samson to get a place in the T20 World Cup squad as the wicketkeeper batter as he feels that the Kerala star has the potential to be the X-factor for the Asian giants.
Samson, who made his India debut in 2015, is yet to cement his place in the Indian team. The flamboyant batter didn’t get consistent chances to prove his mettle as he also failed to get picked in the squad for the ICC events.
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“Sanju has made a wonderful hundred against South Africa recently. He is definitely a captain material as his mind is ticking all the time while on the field. We have some very good options for wicketkeeper-batter role — KL Rahul, Jitesh Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Pant whenever he comes back after getting fit.”
In that context, Raina hoped Samson would come up with a good outing against the Afghans and in the IPL 2024.
“I prefer to have Sanju in the middle-order because he has a lot of shots. He plays those pick-up shots against pacers from the length. Hopefully, he performs well in the IPL too before the selectors sit down to select the team for the T20 World Cup.
So, it is a good chance for Sanju against Afghanistan, and he can be our X-Factor in the World Cup,” he detailed.
Recently, the 29-year-old scored a fine century against South Africa in third ODI, 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. The century was a statement made by Sanju who has been in and out of the team since making his debut in 2021.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi
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