Former India pace bowler S Sreesanth has backed the Indian men’s cricket selectors’ decision to not add Sanju Samson in the World Cup as well. He also said Samson needs to work on his attitude, listen to “legends” and bat according to the match conditions as well. Samson, despite having an average of 55.71 after 13 ODIs with a strike rate of 104 won’t play the World Cup, And they have preferred Suryakumar Yadav (average of 24.40 in 27 ODIs) and Tilak Varma (21 runs in one ODI) over him as well.
“I think it’s the right decision because it’s very important for a player to understand himself,” Sreesanth said in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda. “From Gavaskar sir to Harsha Bhogle sir and Ravi Shastri sir, everyone rates him highly. There’s no doubt about his ability. But the approach… he doesn’t listen when someone asks him to play according to pitch. He can change that attitude.”
However, Sreesanth feels Samson too often gets out playing a rash shot in the game as well. He again said he needs to trust that he can convert a poor start if he manages to spend more time on the wicket.
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“Whenever I meet him, I tell him just one thing: Sanju, please read the wicket. Wait, don’t go after every bowler. Think. You can hit anyone anywhere anytime, just wait for the opportunity,” he added. “All of Malyali people who support him, including me, say he doesn’t get chances. We can’t say that. He got chances against Ireland, Sri Lanka, he has been playing IPL for 10 years. He has been playing since 2013, has been the captain too, and has scored just three 100s and he hasn’t shown consistency.”
However, Sanju Samson hasn’t played against Ireland or Sri Lanka in ODIs in the last two years as well. The last time he featured in either of those teams was in the T20 format. He scored 40 (26) and hit an unbeaten one in two matches against Ireland in August and a 5 (6) in only game against Sir Lanka in January as well.
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“I’ll say, ‘Waqt kiske liye nahi rukta’ (time doesn’t stop for anyone). Everyone talks about time, I’ll also tell the same to Sanju. A lot of good people are coming in. Even the two keepers going for the Asia Games (Prabhsimran Singh and Jitesh Sharma). When everyone’s talking about you, make it count. Getting sympathy is very easy, but appreciation is difficult,” Sreesanth concluded. “He will be back. He’ll play all formats: Tests, ODIs and T20s if he changes his mindset. I don’t think he’ll change his mindset but I genuinely hope for Kerala cricket and Indian cricket that such a talent doesn’t get wasted by only playing the IPL. I think he should change his approach but he will not… I don’t want to change a person who doesn’t want to change.”
