Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has praised Sanju Samson ahead of the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025.
Earlier, Manjrekar backed Sanju Samson over Pant as India's second wicket-keeper for CT 2025. Pant has been brilliant for India in Test cricket so far, winning plenty of games for his team. However, his records in ODIs and T20Is are not too impressive. However, he has immense potential to change things in any format of the game.
On the other hand, Samson has a good ODI record in the limited over 50 over international matches he has played so far. Recently, he has been in great form in the T20Is for India and has shown how destructive he can be when he gets going.
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Sanjay Manjrekar greets Sanju Samson
Asked about Sanju Samson's mantra for his recent success in T20I cricket, Sanjay Manjekar claimed that Samson seems more confident and values his wicket more.
“Self-confidence, slight maturity and he values his wicket a bit more. He plays long innings and not just once but repeatedly. Some people are a bit late bloomers and Sanju Samson is like that,” Manjrekar told Star Sports.
Manjrekar also mentioned that Samson is looking to bat a lot now, which is working for him. According to him, he was batting nicely earlier too but the consistency was not there.
“I am a big fan of him now. Earlier he seemed to be batting well, but where were the runs. Now the batting is strong anyway, even the runs are there,” observed the former India batsman.
Glad to see the kind of success he is currently blessed with – Sanjay Bangar on Sanju Samson
Meanwhile, former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar was also very impressed with Sanju Samson and praised the Kerala keeper-batsman for his six-hit ability. Bangar felt that the management of the team led by Gautam Gambhir, who gave a longer rope to Sanju Samson, worked in his favour.
“I'm glad to see the kind of success that he's been blessed with right now. He's been there for a long time. He's just got the right opportunities and a good run of opportunities because every hitter, if he plays three or four games in a row, that release a little,” he said.
“Down the order, he doesn't have to worry about the situation. The pitch is up and it's a six hitter. He can hit sixes with ease. After Yuvraj Singh, if there is a batsman who can do that. with such ease on a constant basis, it has to be Sanju Samson. So just seeing him firing on all cylinders is a treat to watch,” observed Bangar.
Samson's excellent record in the white-ball formats makes a strong case for Team India in the Champions Trophy. However, he hasn't played an ODI since December 2023, which may work against him.
KL Rahul has a high chance of being selected in the squad after impressive performances in the ODI format in the middle order. Rahul has played 2851 runs in 77 ODIs at an average of 49.15 and a strike rate of 87.56 which makes him hard to ignore.
Rishabh Pant does not have impressive ODI numbers to work against him. However, the selectors have shown confidence in the left-hander's devastating ability, regardless of format.
Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant's numbers in ODIs
Sanju Samson boasts an impressive ODI record of 510 runs in 16 matches at an average of 56.66 and a strike rate of 99.60. The 30-year-old right-hander has hit 1 hundred and 3 fifties in his ODI career so far.
On the other hand, Rishabh Pant has so far played 43 ODIs and has scored 2948 runs at an average of 33.50 and a strike rate of 106.21 with 1 hundred and 5 fifties. He appeared in India's last ODI played in August 2024 against Sri Lanka.