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India head coach Gautam Gambhir, who has long spoken highly of Sanju Samson, handed the wicketkeeper-batter a fresh lease of life in T20Is after taking charge post the T20 World Cup last June. The Kerala star repaid the faith with three centuries in his last 10 innings. Yet, Monday’s evening net session at the ICC Cricket Academy Arena in Dubai hinted that Samson may not find a place in the XI for the Asia Cup opener against hosts UAE at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday.
Samson was the first player to enter the arena when India reached the venue on the eve of the start of the continental tournament in the UAE. He started with solo wicketkeeping drills under the watchful eyes of fielding coach T Dilip, and even earned praise for his full-stretched diving catch taken on his right.
According to a report in the PTI, Gambhir then walked up to him and had an intense three-minute chat, during which Samson did most of the listening. The coach seemed to be discussing the batting more than his keeping drills. Yet, Samson was not called to bat even once during India’s batting practice session, and he cut a lonely figure at the nets.
If the training session was any indication, Jitesh Sharma could be backed as the primary wicketkeeper-batter in the playing XI for the Asia Cup opener. There was confidence in his strides as he emerged from the clubhouse, and looked relaxed as the batting drill began alongside Shivam Dube, Tilak Verma and Hardik Pandya, all of whom took turns to bat with middle-order dashers getting the first go. Later, top order batters Shubman Gill, skipper Suryakumar Yadav, and Abhishek Sharma took turns, not once but twice and thrice.
Samson did have his batting gear on, but later walked away quietly from the melee and sat behind a palm tree near the dressing room. Later, he came near the nets again, but with no indication from the management, he went and sat on the ice box.
Sanju Samson vs Shubman Gill for the opening spot
He eventually got his opportunity when everybody was done and the nets cleared. A net bowler served a half-tracker, and he missed. That summed up his day. The pre-tournament training session clearly indicated that India will find it really difficult to fit in Samson in the playing XI, which was speculated when the chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced the return of Gill to the T20I fold after a year and named him the vice-captain.
Rinku Singh was the other person who did not get a chance to bat, which was another indication of his position in the pecking order. He eventually padded up when the net session had ended, and he faced took throwdowns from a support staff, who was not a specialist.
