‘Sanju is victimised…’ – Sanju Samson’s childhood coach Biju has an interesting take on Samson vs Rishabh Pant debate

India is currently in New Zealand to play a T20I and ODI series against the Kiwis. The ‘Men-in-Blue’ won the T20I series by a margin of 1-0 and are 0-1 behind in the three-match ODI series with one game left to be played. As most of the youngsters got chances in the ongoing tour, one name still missed out to play in the T20I series i.e Sanju Samson. The right-hander finally got a chance in the first ODI and played a vital knock of 36 off 38 balls. However, the wicketkeeper batter was dropped in the second ODI to make way for Deepak Hooda.

The team management persisted with Rishabh Pant in the T20I series who has not been able to cement his place in the T20I side despite playing 66 matches in the format. On the other hand, Samson has only played 16 T20Is so far and averages 44 with the bat this year as compared to Pant’s 21. Commenting on the competition between Pant and Samson, Samson’s childhood coach Biju said that the debate got escalated because of several fans expressing too many opinions on social media.

“Now what’s happening on social media is that people are turning against Rishabh Pant for no reason. Pant is there because he has performed over a long period of time. And see there is no clash between Pant and Sanju Samson. Samson has been playing and can play for India as a pure batter. Pant’s keeping skills are very good. If you look over a period of time, Pant has not done a major lapse or fumble behind the stumps. He has come good for India in both red and white ball over a long period of time. He might have a slump now… When you talk about impact players like Adam Gilchrist or Virender Sehwag. They must get a levy to fail,” Biju told CricketNext.

“What I am not liking is how the Mallu crowd is putting Sanju Samson against BCCI, and belittling Rishabh Pant. It is very wrong and not at all on. Political leaders in Kerala think cricket is another game of politics and are saying Sanju is victimised. No, not at all. I don’t believe so and it’s just that circumstances are not working in his favour. He is not being deliberately targeted. I don’t think anybody in the Indian cricketing system would be deliberately targeted. Somebody like a VVS Laxman is the coach, I don’t see that happening,” he added.

Left or right doesn’t matter : Biju

The argument used by the team management to keep Pant in the eleven is that it helps keep a right-left combination in the middle. Biju, however, feels that a player should be in the team for his skills and capabilities not because you’re a right or left-hander.

“There is a theory that most fast bowlers practice 60-70 percent against right-handers. So when a left-hander comes to bat, there will be some freebies along the way. I don’t subscribe to that theory. If you are a good fast bowler, left or right or even someone with an awkward stance like Shivnarine Chanderpaul shouldn’t bother you much. My theory is simple, if you are good enough, you should be batting. Left or right doesn’t matter,” added Biju.