Former Cricketer Aakash Chopra has lauded Sanju Samson for an impressive knock during the first T20I of Bangladesh tour of India 2024 on Sunday.
He also recalled the memories of India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir saying about the Wk-Batter deserving to play for India. The hosts secured a seven-wicket victory after bowling out Bangladesh for 127 runs.
Sanju Samson scored 29 runs on 19 deliveries in India’s chase of 128 runs. In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra recalled Gambhir’s statement.
“You need to talk about Sanju Samson. Abhishek Sharma was playing amazingly well until he was there but he got run out. But how well did Sanju play?
“Gautam Gambhir said long back that if Sanju Samson doesn’t play for India, it’s India’s loss. He was made to open,” said Chopra.
The cricketer-turned-commentator appreciated Samson for his solid knock while playing classy shots.
Yeh Sanju Samson ka style hain 🤟#INDvBAN #JioCinemaSports #IDFCFirstBankT20ITrophy pic.twitter.com/ZSEakH0hqQ
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) October 6, 2024
“The silken touch was seen. He wasn’t hitting the ball hard. It seemed like he didn’t want to hurt the ball, and he was hitting one four after another.”
“When everyone was hitting, he also hit but by caressing the ball. You were getting hit, you were bleeding but you were not feeling the pain,” Chopra elaborated.
Samson hit six fours in his 29-run stand and was the only Indian batter to knock a six in the game.
“He is good. He scored 29 runs. My only thing was that since he had reached here, he should go slightly further ahead.”
“He should score a few more runs because, otherwise, they would drop him. He keeps moving in and out (of the side), and up and down (the batting order),” he concluded.
While hoping Samson for a big knock in the next two T20Is, the former India opener praised T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav for his impressive stand.
“At least, he got a good start, and I really hope that a big knock comes in Delhi or the last match in Hyderabad, so that you stay in everybody’s thoughts. Suryakumar Yadav also said that the captain will play like this.”
“It was a dominating performance. In fact, the ball he got out to wasn’t a wicket-taking ball, he played a good shot as well, but just found a fielder in the deep,” Chopra said.
Suryakumar smashed 29 runs off 14 deliveries including two fours and three sixes. After Samson and Suryakumar’s dismissal, Nitish Kumar and Hardik Pandya completed the match in 11.5 overs.
Leading the series 1-0, India will look for a win in the second T20I played on October 08 at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
