Since the Indian squad for the ODI World Cup 2023 was announced, the chatter in the Indian cricketing fraternity has been around Sanju Samson‘s absence. The wicket-keeper batter found no place in the 15-man squad for the World Cup and wasn’t picked for the Australia ODI series too. As fans contemplate whether Samson deserved to be picked in India’s ODI team, at least for the Australia series, former India pacer S Sreesanth expressed his disappointment at the ‘sympathy’ the player is getting.
“I think it’s the right decision because it’s very important for a player to understand himself,” Sreesanth said in a chat on 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.”
Sreesanth said that he even had a chat with Samson over his application on the 22-yard strip. But, the former pacer remains disappointed to see the wicket-keeper batter failing to show the sort of consistency that a player at his level should.
“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.
Samson has a huge fan following, and Sreesanth isn’t unaware of that. The 2011 World Cup-winning India speedster feels Samson is getting plenty of Sympathy from his fans, but not the sort of appreciation for his performances that is required to excel at this level.
“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,” he continued.
“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,” he said.
Sreesanth, however, remains confident that Samson will be back in the Indian team. In fact, he feels the Kerala batter could succeed in all three formats of the game if he alters his mindset a little.
“He will be back,” Sreesanth said. “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.”
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