Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has praised Sanja Samson ahead of the upcoming 2025 Champions Trophy.
Manjrekar had earlier backed Sanju Samson over Pant as India’s second wicketkeeper for CT 2025. Pant has been brilliant for India in Test cricket so far, winning many matches for his team. However, his records in ODIs and T20Is are not too impressive. However, he has huge potential to turn things around in any format of the game.
On the other hand, Samson has a good ODI record in the limited over 50-over internationals he has played so far. He was in excellent form in T20Is for India recently and showed how destructive he can be when he gets going.
Also read: ICC Champions Trophy 2025: PCB ready to jeopardize Saim Ayub’s career to play against India
Sanjay Manjrekar welcomes Sanja Samson
When asked about Sanju Samson’s mantra for his recent success in T20I cricket, Sanjay Manjekar said that Samson looks more confident and puts more value on his wicket.
“Confidence, slight maturity, and he appreciates his wicket a bit more. He plays long innings and not just one, but many times. Some people bloom a bit late and Sanju Samson is like that,” Manjrekar said on Star Sports.
Manjrekar further noted that Samson now wants to hit long which is going well for him. According to him, he had hit well before, but there was no consistency.
“Now I am a big fan of his. Earlier he seemed to be batting well but where were the runs. Now the batting is powerful anyway, even the runs are there,” remarked the former India batsman.
Glad to see the 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 Gautam Gambhir-led team management by giving Sanju Samson a longer rope worked in his favour.
“I’m glad to see the success he’s blessed with right now. He’s been around for a long time. It’s just that he’s gotten the right opportunities and a good run of opportunities because any batsman, if he plays three or four games in a row, it loosens him up a little bit,” he said.
“Batting down the order, he doesn’t really have to worry about the situation. The pitch is up and he’s a six-hitter. He can hit sixes with ease. After Yuvraj Singh, if there’s one batsman who can do it with such ease on a consistent basis, it has to be a pleasure to watch him firing on all cylinders,” remarked Bangar.
Samson’s excellent record in the white-ball formats makes a strong case for the Indian team in the Champions Trophy. However, he has not played an ODI since December 2023 which may go against him.
KL Rahul has a high chance of being picked 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 it difficult for him to be overlooked again.
Rishabh Pant does not have impressive ODI numbers to go against him. Still, the selectors have shown faith in the left-hander’s devastating ability regardless of format.
Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant’s figures 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 reached 11355 in his ODI career so far.
On the other hand, Rishabh Pant has played 43 ODIs so far and scored 2948 runs at an average of 33.50 and a strike rate of 106.21 with 1 hundred and 5 fifties. He featured in India’s last ODI in August 2024 against Sri Lanka.
