Can we end the Sanju Samson experiment?

[Gollum]

Seeing lots of hatred directed towards Sanju on SM. A bit unfair on him IMO, he is batting out of position. Even for RR, he came into his own only after getting top 3 position. If Abhi is made to bat in middle order, he too will struggle.

 

Our middle order looks very weak, will come up short in a crucial KO game......we have 20 odd games to finetune our batting order but at some point GG will have to surrender his ego and get back Shreyas into scheme of things. 

 

Even with Gill in XI, this may be a better way to go about things

 

Abhi

Gill

Sanju

Tilak

Shreyas

Hardik

Dube/Parag/Reddy

Axar

3 specialist bowlers

 

SKY is a weak link, and our wk options aren't great tbh, Ishan/Jitesh have a long way to go and KL/Pant have had their chances, not good fits with WC so near. 

[Ultimate_Game]

25 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Seeing lots of hatred directed towards Sanju on SM. A bit unfair on him IMO, he is batting out of position. Even for RR, he came into his own only after getting top 3 position. If Abhi is made to bat in middle order, he too will struggle.

 

Our middle order looks very weak, will come up short in a crucial KO game......we have 20 odd games to finetune our batting order but at some point GG will have to surrender his ego and get back Shreyas into scheme of things. 

 

Even with Gill in XI, this may be a better way to go about things

 

Abhi

Gill

Sanju

Tilak

Shreyas

Hardik

Dube/Parag/Reddy

Axar

3 specialist bowlers

 

SKY is a weak link, and our wk options aren't great tbh, Ishan/Jitesh have a long way to go and KL/Pant have had their chances, not good fits with WC so near. 

 

The thing is unless Samson plays in the top 3, he's useless and a waste of spot. If we're not going in with Samson as opener then play Jitesh at 6 or 7. He's a much better batter lower down the order and would give you 25-30 off 16 deliveries unlike what we saw from Samson today and what he does lower down the order.

[Gollum]

Just now, Ultimate_Game said:

 

The thing is unless Samson plays in the top 3, he's useless and a waste of spot. If we're not going in with Samson as opener then play Jitesh at 6 or 7. He's a much better batter lower down the order and would give you 25-30 off 16 deliveries unlike what we saw from Samson today and what he does lower down the order.

Haven't seen enough of Jitesh (except 3-4 IPL games), but is he that good? Can he play such knocks against tournament contenders like NZ and Aus? Sanju in top 3 is a proven candidate, and truthfully our wk options aren't thatr great at least for 26 WC. Jitesh probably the only other realistic contender.....maybe try that combo (no Sanju, Jitesh at 7) in upcoming T20Is, and see what works best !!!!

[Ultimate_Game]

Just now, Gollum said:

Haven't seen enough of Jitesh (except 3-4 IPL games), but is he that good? Can he play such knocks against tournament contenders like NZ and Aus? Sanju in top 3 is a proven candidate, and truthfully our wk options aren't thatr great at least for 26 WC. Jitesh probably the only other realistic contender.....maybe try that combo (no Sanju, Jitesh at 7) in upcoming T20Is, and see what works best !!!!

 

You play players based on their skill sets and their batting positions. Jitesh is a specialist lower order batter who gives you 15 ball 25-30. Samson is not going to give you that. Samson has failed consistently across IPL and T20Is whenever he has played anywhere other than top 3. If you're simply going with stats and average then you may as well pick 6 openers and slot them in from 1-6 as they'll have better stats and numbers.

 

Jitesh is much more useful and impactful lower down the order than Samson. That's what the team and selectors need to factor in. You can't select a player based on their performances as opener and then slot them in at 6. This is similar to how we used to play earlier by getting youngsters in bi-lateral series and then slotting in Kohli and Sharma for the ICC tourneys with the youngsters pushed down to 5 and 6 where they hadn't performed. Picking players for specific spots is as important as picking the right players. And clearly Samson is a misfit lower down the order. He doesn't have the game for it. He can neither hit nor rotate the strike.

[tapandrun]

Posted this on the other thread regarding place for jaiswal (before gill was added to the team as VC)-- Ind does not have a wk who can walk into the side just up-on their t20 batsmanship, so technically they need to slot them in to opening position like how other teams are doing with their wk opening the innings in t20s and asking then to maximize what ever-ball they play and its kind of expendable opener.

 

As soon as Ind slots any of the WK in the middle order their batting strength or dominating strength goes down. Right now player like pooran, buttler, klasen can walk into the side and can therefore be he WK batter who plays in the mo.

 

Sanju is v.weird as a batter he has power and gift of timing yet you will see him mistime or lose power in the shots.

 

Ppl are saying jitesh is an option, do not think he is any kind of option has he shown any ability in intnl. cricket against a good team.  Once a player gets Ind cap they should not be judge on IPL performances.

 

The only role jitesh plays is kind of safety-net not of a high quality but TM and as a batter you can get the confidence that we have some1 at the back if wkts falls--kind of placebo effects    

 

[mani sha]

Pant needs to be back . Hope he has a good IPL . 

[tapandrun]

1 minute ago, mani sha said:

Pant needs to be back . Hope he has a good IPL . 

he has sr of 127 in 76 matches only 3 fifties in t20is, there is no t20 team or a batting position he fits in.

 

Ind has to find proper wk batter options none of the avilble ppl are good for t20is be it Sanju, kl, Pant, Jurel, Ishan, jitesh

 

 

[Ultimate_Game]

20 minutes ago, mani sha said:

Pant needs to be back . Hope he has a good IPL . 

 

Pant is not a T20 player. His best format is Tests.

[ungboysj]

6 hours ago, Gollum said:

Seeing lots of hatred directed towards Sanju on SM. A bit unfair on him IMO, he is batting out of position. Even for RR, he came into his own only after getting top 3 position. If Abhi is made to bat in middle order, he too will struggle.

 

Our middle order looks very weak, will come up short in a crucial KO game......we have 20 odd games to finetune our batting order but at some point GG will have to surrender his ego and get back Shreyas into scheme of things. 

 

Even with Gill in XI, this may be a better way to go about things

 

Abhi

Gill

Sanju

Tilak

Shreyas

Hardik

Dube/Parag/Reddy

Axar

3 specialist bowlers

 

SKY is a weak link, and our wk options aren't great tbh, Ishan/Jitesh have a long way to go and KL/Pant have had their chances, not good fits with WC so near. 

No way we can drop sky for this world cup.He will captain .hope he recovers some form

 

Iyer is a must even drop tilak if needed

 

Even jaiswal need to be in team 

[Ultimate_Game]

13 minutes ago, ungboysj said:

No way we can drop sky for this world cup.He will captain .hope he recovers some form

 

Iyer is a must even drop tilak if needed

 

Even jaiswal need to be in team 

 

With SKY it's not about form but his lack of match awareness. He consistently goes for low percentage shots, most of which are across the line to the leg side especially behind square. He has to bat with the straight bat and has to have scoring shots in front of the wkt. When he gets in then he can go for his cross batted heaves. That's why Iyer is so much better. He plays straight and doesn't rely on gimmicky and low percentage shots as his main scoring ones.

[bowl_out]

10 hours ago, ungboysj said:

No way we can drop sky for this world cup.He will captain .hope he recovers some form

 

Iyer is a must even drop tilak if needed

 

Even jaiswal need to be in team 

Tilak has done well. Will be insane to drop him. Iyer should take Sky's place after the WC. Unfortunately, no place for him in the side till then.

Edited September 22, 2025 by bowl_out

[Manucrick]

2 hours ago, mani sha said:

Pant needs to be back . Hope he has a good IPL . 

Nice joke brother 

[singhvivek141]

I overall like Sanju and I really want him to succeed. Though his batting position is a problem.

We don't have many keeper batters who can bat in MO...Samson, PrabhSimran both are top order batters, not suited for no 4/5. Sanju also is a slow mover, Tilak in comparison is brisk between wickets. If Samson has to bat, he need to be at no 3, Surya and Tilak have to move down by one level. That's another issue as Tilak too takes a bit of time before going bonkers, plus Pandya isnt the hitter which he used to be.
 

[test fan]

Sorry but sanju samson never gave that feeling of certainty or trust of winning the match. No matter how much talented he is, he is still just random hitter.

[crictime]

Has T20i avg of 25 and sr of 148.

 

Also Samson being keeper gives balance to team.

 

Won't like to see Shreyas Iyer with lesser strike rate replace him and also Shreyas Iyer cannot replace Samson the keeper with better strike rate. Even without the keeping skill, Samson is a better strike rate batsman than Iyer. Iyer has strike rate of 130 which is bad.