Indian wicketkeeper and batter Sanju Samson has become a sort of cult figure for his fans. Even in a short career, where he has not got a long rope with the team, Sanju has managed to develop a big fan base. The same fan base feels Sanju is, intentionally, ignored when it comes to selection for big-ticket events. There is also an argument that he is, on purpose, not given a longer run in the playing XI while others like Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul have consistently got the backing of the captain and team management over the years.
One cannot deny that the above statement is incorrect. There are some players who get the backing, not because there is bias but those players have instilled more trust in the team management than others. Harbhajan Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh were the few names former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly trusted and backed. They delivered too. Likewise, MS Dhoni backed Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The rest is history.
The current team is trusting Rishabh Pant to come good and even a struggling KL Rahul to fire in Australia. That trust cannot be doubted. And that is exactly what Samson said during a video interaction that is going viral on the internet.
Sanju Samson is an incredible and down to earth human being.pic.twitter.com/Xaln77a77d
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) September 17, 2022
He spoke on not getting selected for the T20 World Cup 2022 and said that competing with Pant and Rahul will mean he is letting his country down.
"These days, in media and on social media, there are talks that who will Sanju replace in the Indian playing XI. Will you replace Rishabh Pant or KL Rahul. My thinking is very clear that both KL and Pant play for my own team. If I compete with my own teammates, then I'm letting my country down," said Samson on World Cricket channel.
He added that he feels fortunate to be donning Indian colours on a cricket field after 5 years. He feels being in that best 15 is something he cherishes a lot as the competition is stiff for places.
"But I feel very fortunate that I made a comeback after 5 years. Indian team was No 1 five years ago and even now. To become a part of the best 15 of Indian cricket team is a big thing. But at the same time, you also have to think about yourself as well and it is important to be in the right frame of mind and think positively," said Sanju.
