His consistency comes at a crucial time, with stiff competition for a spot in India’s Asia Cup XI following Shubman Gill’s return as vice-captain, and the inclusion of wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma after a stellar IPL season for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Sanju Samson’s purple patch in the Kerala Cricket League (KCL) continued on Thursday, as the India opener cracked yet another quickfire half-century for Kochi Blue Tigers in Thiruvananthapuram.
In his fourth outing of the season, Samson smashed 62 off 37 balls against Trivandrum Royals, lacing his knock with four fours and five sixes at a strike rate of 167.57. Powered by his innings, along with V Manoharan’s 42 (26 balls, nine fours) and Nikhil Thottath’s 45 (35 balls, five fours and a six), Kochi Blue Tigers posted 191/5.
Abhijith Praveen V stood out for Trivandrum with 3/26, but his side fell short at 182/6 despite Sanjeev Satheresan’s 70 off 46 balls.
The knock added to Samson’s fiery run in the league. Two days earlier, he blasted 89 off 46 balls against Thrissur Titans, and earlier still, he hammered a stunning 121 off 51 balls against Aries Kollam Sailors to pull off a record chase of 237.
That innings overshadowed Vishnu Vinod’s 94 (41 balls) and Sachin Baby’s 91 (44 balls). Samson had started the tournament slowly with 13 off 22 in the middle order but has since returned to form in style.
With 285 runs in four matches at an average of 71.25 and a strike rate of 182, including a century and two fifties, Samson is among the tournament’s standout performers.
His consistency comes at a crucial time, with stiff competition for a spot in India’s Asia Cup XI following Shubman Gill’s return as vice-captain after a prolific 754-run Test series against England, and the inclusion of wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma after a stellar IPL season for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Gill, who led India’s T20I tour of Zimbabwe after the World Cup, will return as vice-captain and is set to open with Abhishek Sharma. Samson, meanwhile, has enjoyed a resurgence as an opener in the international format -- scoring three centuries in five innings across series against Bangladesh and South Africa. He finished 2023 as India’s top T20I batter with 436 runs in 12 innings at an average of 43.60 and a strike rate of 180.16.
India begin their Asia Cup campaign against the UAE on September 10, followed by the much-anticipated clash with Pakistan on September 14 in Dubai. Their final group match will be against Oman on September 19 in Abu Dhabi.
The Super 4 stage, scheduled from September 20 to 26, will see the top two sides from each group progress. India’s fixtures will depend on their group finish: all in Dubai if they top Group A, or one in Abu Dhabi and two in Dubai if they finish second. The final will be played in Dubai on September 28.
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