“He is frittering away his chances” – Mohammed Kaif feels Sanju Samson should “take the example from Virat Kohli”


“He is frittering away his chances” – Mohammed Kaif feels Sanju Samson should “take the example from Virat Kohli”

Mohammad Kaif and Sanju Samson

Mohammad Kaif and Sanju Samson
Mohammad Kaif and Sanju Samson

India have earned the much-needed confidence going into the Test series having clinched the T20I series. The visitors defeated Australia by six wickets in the second T20I to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. The fact that youngsters stepped up to overturn India’s fortunes having lost the ODI series makes the win a special one for the Men in Blue.

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But amidst all the hustle and bustle, young wicketkeeper Sanju Samson has fallen behind in the race to grab the opportunities. Let it be Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja or T Natarajan, all of them have seized the opportunity with open hands. But Samson has staggered as he goes into the third T20I with only 38 runs under his belt.

I feel he should get more chances

Sanju Samson
Sanju Samson

Former Indian batsman Mohammad Kaif admits that the 26 year old has been frittering away his chances. But feels that he deserves more chances. Kaif feels that Samson has a natural ability to hit sixes. And given his promising performance in the first T20I, the team management should stick with him for a while.

According to me, we have won the series. He has got two innings and in the first T20I, Sanju Samson was looking good. It felt like he could score runs. And he has the X-factor, he has the ability to hit sixes,” Kaif said during a discussion on the Sony Sports network.

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Yes, he is frittering away his chances. He is new and will get more chances although he has not grasped his chances like Natarajan has done. That has not happened with Sanju Samson but I feel he should get more chances.

Kaif further adds that Samson should look to learn from skipper Virat Kohli when it comes to building the innings. The Kerala glovesman has been impatient in the first two encounters of the series and that has been his undoing on both occasions. So the former India international urges him to build his innings with singles and double as Kohli does.

If Samson gets the opportunity now, then he should take the example from Virat Kohli in the middle. Virat Kohli is a player who also makes the runs through singles and doubles. You can hit the sixes but he needs to learn from Virat Kohli on how to build an innings,” Kaif concluded.

Samson averages a disappointing 12.17 having scored only 73 runs in his six games for India. His best score is 23 runs which came in the first T20I of the series.

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