Wasim Jaffer, the former Indian opener who now supports Sanju Samson, has pushed the Team India brain tank to expedite the return of the underutilised wicketkeeper-batter in the white ball game.
Former Indian cricketer Jaffer has endorsed Samson to lead India’s middle-order in the absence of Shreyas Iyer after Suryakumar Yadav faltered against the Mitchell Starc-inspired Australian team in the second One Day International (ODI) of the bilateral series on Sunday.
On Sunday, star batsman Suryakumar continued his dismal performance in the Australia series with being removed for a golden duck by bowler Starc. In a similar way to how bowler Starc dismissed Suryakumar, he also gave the top-ranked T20I hitter a golden duck in the opening ODI series match in Mumbai. Jaffer expressed his sympathy for Suryakumar after his disastrous performance against Australia and went on to support Samson, who’s currently awaiting his turn.
What did Wasim Jaffer say to back Sanju Samson for ODIs?
Jaffer while speaking to EspnCricinfo said that, “We might sympathize with Suryakumar Yadav as the first ball that he faced was of 145 clicks. No doubt that it’s challenging when a left-arm seamer tries to bring the ball back in. Again, he should have anticipated that when Mitchell Starc bowls, he will attack the stumps and might swing the ball. We have to see if the management sticks with him in the third ODI otherwise it’s not a bad option to give Sanju Samson a chance because he has played well when given the opportunity and he is a good player.”
The opener then spoke about team performance and added that,” It was a disappointing performance. The first ODI also saw a collapse, but KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja rescued India. But it wasn’t to be in this game. There was a prediction of moisture due to rains; however, it didn’t look like it. Except for the one that got KL Rahul, which was a difficult ball as it’s not easy to play a ball coming in so fast. Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma played poor shots. Suryakumar Yadav also got a good ball. Other than that, it was an ordinary batting performance. I wouldn’t say the pitch or bowling got those wickets. Virat Kohli got set and missed a straight delivery. Except for Rahul, no batter perished to an outstanding delivery. So, it’s a massive win for Australia.”
Team India was dismissed for 117 in 26 overs after Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar were both dismissed in the same over by Australia’s Starc. In the second One Day International at Visakhapatnam, Australia defeated India by a margin of ten wickets thanks to half-centuries from Australian openers Travis Head (51) and Mitchell Marsh (66). Australia and Rohit’s India will play the series finale on Wednesday.
Fans react to the bold statement made by Wasim Jaffer : –
Wasim Jaffer said, "it's not a bad option to give Sanju Samson a chance, because he's played well when given the opportunity". (On Espncricinfo).
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 20, 2023
He’s not even in the squad unfortunately. India will now play an ODI after 3-4 months!
— Sumit Agarwal 🇮🇳 (@sumitagarwal_IN) March 20, 2023
FYI#SanjuSamson never got to play more than 3 consecutive matches for India since his first call from 2014
That's the way how BCCI backed him
— Sanju Samson Fans Page (@SanjuSamsonFP) March 20, 2023
He himself never got a consistent run in team despite the great numbers in domestics. He can understand the pain of Sanju.
— Rahul🤾♂️ (@FREAK__ish) March 20, 2023
He deserves a chance pic.twitter.com/cVtE2ZRF76
— DhoniFanRoshan 🦁 (@ItsRoshan124) March 20, 2023
BCCI finding reasons to ignore sanju pic.twitter.com/MiqoEzn0gg
— Florida woman 💀 (@NucleusDevi) March 20, 2023
this is the proof , when he got the chance, he do for team, but bcci ko to problem hai sanju se …😐😐 pic.twitter.com/6ljJiEqDlP
— Roma Sahu (@RomaSahu2211) March 20, 2023
BCCI to Sanju Samson 😂 pic.twitter.com/HsX9WW6P8b
— Akshay Sharma (@theakshay1968) March 20, 2023
He will surely play better than Surya (T20 specialist)
— AV!🇮🇳 (@SprotsLover29) March 20, 2023
Sabko pata hai ! bas BCCI ko nhi pata
— Memer (@relatekaryaar) March 20, 2023