Sunil Gavaskar tears apart Sanju Samson following batter’s another failure in first T20I against Sri Lanka

Tuesday’s series opener between India and Sri Lanka at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium saw Sanju Samson have a rough day with the bat and a mixed performance on the field. Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar was unimpressed by Samson’s knock and his poor fielding.

Samson has been associated with one narrative throughout his career i.e., how he repeatedly falls short of justifying the immeasurable skill he possesses. Gavaskar has repeatedly made this point.

Samson had only faced five balls when he went for a slog and mistimed his drive off Dhananjaya de Silva, thereby getting caught after scoring just five runs. The fact that Samson had been given a lifeline on the previous delivery when the fielder missed a chance in the deep makes the dismissal all the more painful.

However, Samson perished instead of playing himself in against the looming Sri Lankan attack, which prompted Gavaskar to question the 28-year-old Indian batsman.

This is one more occasion where it has disappointed: Sunil Gavaskar

“And this time, it’s the leading edge going to short third man. He is such a fine player. Sanju Samson has so much talent but his shot selection sometimes lets him down. And this is one more occasion where it has disappointed,” Gavaskar said on air.

Samson’s evening deteriorated. Samson made a few mistakes in the outfield. The first error occurred in Hardik Pandya’s opening over of Sri Lanka’s innings. With the fresh ball, the India skipper promptly produced a dangerous swing that knocked Pathum Nissanka to the ground.

Nissanka top-edged Hardik on the second ball of the over for what seemed to be a simple catch, but Samson at mid-off fumbled it. Samson dove over, reached underneath, and even scooped the ball, but as he landed, he spilled it.

He recovered later in the innings with quick dismissals of Kusal Mendis and de Silva (the catch to send back Mendis was especially impressive because the ball was traveling fast), but the night concluded with a forgettable sight.

Samson rushed into position from the third man to stop the ball, but he was unable to. Samson’s knee got stuck in the ground, which wasn’t totally his fault, but it led to a boundary and upset Umran Malik.

Returning to his batting, former India opener Gautam Gambhir noted that Samson needs to seize his opportunities.

“We all talk about how much talent he has but he needs to capitalize on these chances,” he said during the Byju’s Cricket Live Show.