Rajasthan Royals may have eked out a win on Tuesday, but Sanju Samson faced his fair share of criticism after yet another low score with the bat. The Royals managed 185 in their innings thanks to Yashasvi Jaiswal and Mahipal Lomror, while Samson struggled to make a mark, departing for a paltry 4. The Rajasthan Royals star had struggled during India’s tour of Sri Lanka as well, prompting Sunil Gavaskar to give out a damning verdict on his performance.
Speaking to Star Sports, Sunil Gavaskar believes Sanju Samson needs to work on his temperament and shot selection. The former Indian captain said, “What has led him down is the shot selection. Even at the international level, he doesn’t open the batting there. He was the second or the third wicket down. And he looks to hit the first ball out of the ground. That is impossible. That is absolutely impossible even if you’ve been in the richest vein of form. You have got to maybe knock it around for maybe twos and threes and get the feet moving and then look to play.”
Gavaskar further added that Samson needs to play himself into the game before making it a big score, rather than live on the extremes. The former cricketer believes if the Rajasthan Royals captain can work on his temperament, he can be a batsman of a “different class.”
“That is something he is going to watch out for. Because otherwise, it is going to be a waste of such God-given talent. I have always said that a lot of shot selection boils down to temperament. That is what separates the men from the boys. And therefore, for him to go on and be a regular player for India, his shot selection has to be that much better,” said Gavaskar.
Samson remains one of the leading run-getters in IPL 2021, owing to a stellar Phase 1, where he scored his third IPL hundred against the Punjab Kings. He is seventh on the Orange Cap list after KL Rahul, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Mayank Agarwal leapfrogged him in the run-scoring charts. Samson will hope that he can replicate those numbers in IPL 2021 Phase 2 and take his team to the playoffs.
