Spending a fair amount of time in a competitive environment is one of the best ways for a cricketer to prepare going into a multi-team international competition.
Barely a fortnight remains before India begin their Asia Cup campaign on September 10 against hosts UAE. Sanju Samson, a key member of India’s batting unit, is getting important game time in the ongoing Kerala Cricket League (KCL) in Thiruvananthapuram, which is also helping him sharpen and hone his skills ahead of his India assignments.
Strikingly, Samson, representing Kochi Blue Tigers in the KCL, was slotted in the middle order in the team’s first two games before getting back to opening in the next two on Sunday and Tuesday. Not required to bat in his team’s opener, Samson batted at No.6 in the next game, where he scored 13 off 22 balls.
As an opener, Samson has been at his devastating best in T20Is, hitting three centuries late last year against Bangladesh and South Africa. But with Shubman Gill included in India’s Asia Cup squad and also appointed vice-captain, a fair possibility of Samson having to bat in the middle order exists, assuming the Test captain will open the innings.
The 30-year-old keeper-batter, though, has no problems in batting down the order. “Being a professional and internationally established player, Sanju is flexible enough to make the adjustments if he has to bat down the order.
“His flexibility is what guides him, and he is very confident about his abilities,” former Kerala and Pondicherry all-rounder Raiphi Gomez, also Samson’s mentor-cum-coach, told The Telegraph from Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.
That Samson was slotted outside the top four of the Kochi line-up in this KCL implies he’s mentally ready for a similar situation in the Asia Cup. Batting down the order could also allow him to play the role of a finisher, where he will get the scope to express himself just as well as he does as an opener.
Since training under Gomez’s supervision over the last six years, Samson’s six-hitting ability has attained another level, given the ease and spontaneity with which he cleared the boundaries against Bangladesh and the Proteas.
Importantly for Samson, the KCL has helped him recover a good bit of the time he lost in this year’s IPL due to an abdominal injury.
In what apparently looks like his last season for the Rajasthan Royals, Samson could play only nine matches. His numbers (285 runs and an average of 35.62) weren’t bad in those games, but the strike rate of 140.39 wasn’t quite Samson-like.
Before the IPL, Samson had to endure a lean patch in the home T20Is against England earlier this year. With Jitesh Sharma making his mark for Royal Challengers Bengaluru this year, Samson does need to bat well in this Asia Cup and strengthen his position as the team’s first-choice keeper-batsman in T20Is. However, Samson remains unfazed, Gomez asserted.
“Has Sanju said anything about being under pressure? No. So, it’s all outside noise, and we are not really concerned about what is being said outside,” Gomez, who knows Samson since the latter was only 15 and has also played in the IPL for the now-defunct Kochi and Pune franchises, pointed out.
“Our focus is on making sure Sanju keeps getting better with the bat. He is only concerned about the job he needs to do for India.”
“What happened in the England T20Is is part and parcel of the game, which every cricketer goes through. Then, after the injury during the IPL, he spent necessary time at the (BCCI) Centre of Excellence to regain fitness, and now, he appears well placed rhythm-wise, playing in these KCL matches,” Samson’s mentor-cum-coach emphasised.
Following his unbeaten 121 off 54 balls on Sunday, Samson followed it up with a 46-ball 89 on Tuesday, readying himself for the tougher clashes ahead.