Former Indian pacer Tinu Yohannan said that wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson should play each game like a do-or-die, considering his limited chances in his international career. Despite debuting for India in 2015, Samson has played only 29 T20Is and 16 ODIs so far as well. The veteran was part of India’s 2024 T20 World Cup-winning squad but did not get a single game. Samson then played the second half of the Zimbabwe T20Is before sitting out of the first game of the ongoing series against Sri Lanka as well.

However, he replaced Shubman Gill for the second Sri Lankan T20I but fell for a first-ball duck while opening the batting as well. In an interview with Revsportz, Yohannan shared his views on the batter.

“He debuted about 10 years ago and after that he has been (playing) on and off. He didn’t get a long run at any time. Each game is like a do-or-die game for him. Almost every time when he walks out to bat, he goes into pressure situations. He has to be given a long run somewhere down the line. He needs backing. At Royals, he knows what his role is. He also knows it doesn’t matter if he fails. I know, in the Indian team it’s very difficult for him to get a long stretch of games, especially now that Rishabh (Pant) has come back. But then, he needs to be given a long run at some point of time,” he stated.

However, despite inconsistent chances, Sanju Samson has failed to do well in T20Is which came at an average of 20.18 and a strike rate of 132.93 in 29 outings. Yet, he did well in the 2024 IPL season, finishing as the leading run-getter with 531 runs at an average of 48.27 and a strike rate of 153.46 as well. Tinu Yohannan also feels Sanju Samson does not put pressure on himself and he will excel if allowed to express himself without more backing as well.

“He is not a guy who puts pressure on himself,” concluded Yohannan. “He is someone who has a free mind. He is someone who excels when there are no strings attached, in an environment where he can express himself. He scored a century in his last ODI (against South Africa) and now he hasn’t been picked in the ODI squad. He has reached a point where he doesn’t think about it too much. He just goes game by game.”