Samson — extraordinarily gifted, frustratingly inconsistent Premium

Samson — extraordinarily gifted, frustratingly inconsistent

An enigma? A mystery? An unfathomable riddle, an uncrackable puzzle?

Sanju Samson is all this and more. He is extraordinarily gifted, yet frustratingly inconsistent. When he gets going, he makes batting look the easiest proposition in the world but especially of late, he has struggled to make any sort of impact.

So dangerously close to becoming the perennial nearly man of Indian cricket, the muscular right-hander from Kerala finally seemed to be coming into his own with a string of breakout knocks in Twenty20 Internationals. Between October and November 2024, Samson unleashed three silken centuries in five innings, at home against Bangladesh and away in South Africa, to finally get the monkey off his back.

But with Samson, nothing has been straightforward ever, so why should it be any different this time around?

Just as he was beginning to find his calling as an opener came five cheap dismissals against England at home, in January 2025. That he managed only 51 runs in that series with a highest of 26 was worrying in itself, but even more concerning was the manner of his dismissals. On each instance, he was caught on the pull, against Jofra Archer and Mark Wood mainly, suggesting that even on docile surfaces, the short ball at great pace was a bit of an Achilles’ heel.

But that isn’t uncommon, is it? No batter in his right mind and who is nothing if not truthful will state with any honesty that he relishes the bouncer-barrage, that he is entirely at home when his throat and head are in the firing line. At least Samson knew what the problem area was, what he needed to work on; he and the think-tank should also have taken encouragement from the fact that there aren’t too many bowlers in the world in the same pace league as Archer and Wood who are representing their countries in 20-over internationals.