India and Sri Lanka will play the first T20I of the three-match series on Thursday. The victory over West Indies catapulted India to the top of the ICC rankings in T20Is, however Rohit Sharma know that these bilateral series wins will eventually count for nothing if India falter in the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia this year.
Meanwhile, in the press conference ahead of the T20I series against Sri Lanka on Wednesday, Rohit Sharma was asked about Sanju Samson. Notably, the BCCI recently announced the squad for the series against Sri Lanka. Sanju Samson who last played during an away series against Sri Lanka in July 2021, has also been added.
“As a team management, we see lot of potential, we see lot of talent and we see lot of match-winning abilities in that individual. I hope we give Sanju Samson that confidence when he gets playing for us, and whenever he gets an opportunity I hope he understands that and definitely he is under consideration, which is why he is part of this team “.Captain Rohit Sharma said in the press conference .
“His back-foot play is superb, some of the shots you must have seen during the IPL, the pick-up pull, the cut shots, standing and delivering over bowler’s head. Those kinds of shots are not easy to play and I believe when we go to Australia, you need those kind of shot-making ability and Samson does has it in him. I just hope that he utilises his potential to the maximum.” Rohit added.
The fact that Samson has been given another chance despite India having two quality wicketkeeper-batters in Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul just shows how much the Indian team management trusts in the abilities of Samson. ” You know that guy has got talent. Whenever we have seen him bat in IPL and all of that, he has just produced an innings where everyone goes over the moon watching that inning,”.
“He has got the skill-set to succeed. Now that is the whole point about this sport, a lot of people have skill-set, have talent, but it is how you utilise them is the most critical part and I think, it is up to Sanju to understand how he want to utilise the talent and how he can maximise it,” Rohit said.