Former Indian assistant coach Abhishek Nayar has showered praise on Sanju Samson ahead of the fifth T20I against the West Indies. Samson scored an impressive knock of 56 runs off 23 balls in the penultimate game of the series at Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Nayar highlighted that it was a strategic move from Sanju Samson to keep the strike against Roston Chase, who has troubled left-hander Abhishek Sharma in the ongoing series.
Samson was able to farm the strike in the Powerplay overs whereas Abhishek struggled to get going after the field restrictions were lifted, meandering to 29 runs off 24 balls.
“It was a strategic call at the start, which was very good, where Sanju Samson took strike. After that, the way he was batting, it seemed like he was setting himself up for a big one because he was playing with control. The base was good, the head was steady, and it seemed like the dangerous Sanju was in his rhythm,” Nayar said on JioHotstar.
Nayar said Samson will carry the confidence into the final game and the Indian unit would look to come up with a collective showing.
“Unfortunately, he got out, but he will take this confidence into Bengaluru, and I feel this Indian team will be in a much better position when they come to bat in Bengaluru because a lot of the batters are in form. It’s only a matter of them delivering together,” Nayar observed.
Nayar praised Samson for taking the aggressive approach in the Powerplay overs when Abhishek Sharma was not able to hit the ground running.
“If you bat like this in the Powerplay, you give your team the best start that they require, and that’s what he did, because Abhishek Sharma wasn’t in his greatest of flows, but Sanju Samson took over. Two overs of Roston Chase, like you mentioned, in the Powerplay – he gathered runs there. He put him under pressure there,” he replied.
The fifth and final match of the series between India and the West Indies will be played at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, on Saturday.
