Sanju Samson and his unending struggle with finding 'consistency'

No matter how hard Sanju Samson tries, the batter seems unable to remove the tag of ‘inconsistent’ from his international career. The batter, a prolific player in the IPL by now, is yet to cement his place in the Indian national team. What started as a debate about Samson getting sporadic chances has lately transformed into the discussion of the wicketkeeper being inconsistent in his knocks. Now, as Samson aims to finally solidify his spot in the Indian T20I team after the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the trend of Samson peaking and falling in subsequent outings has unfortunately continued for the 30-year-old.

Two ducks after two consecutive tons: Sanju Samson continues his struggle with acing 'consistency'

As India commenced a new phase in the shorter format after claiming the ICC T20 World Cup trophy after 17 years, a significant transition was witnessed in the squad. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja took the golden moments of the historic win as a cue to conclude their T20I careers on a high. Their exit paved the way for up-and-coming picks to cement their place within the ICT. The period after that witnessed the entry of players like Abhishek Sharma and Riyan Parag in the team. Moreover, dashing the consistent complaints of a certain fanbase, Sanju Samson finally earned the long rope he had been eyeing for a long time.

Joining the party late in Zimbabwe, Samson smashed a half-century in the third T20I at Harare, his second in a career that started with a debut in 2015 at the same venue. After losing his place in the first T20I of the India Tour of Sri Lanka, Samson claimed a spot for the remaining two matches as Rishabh Pant sat out. However, the wicketkeeper-batter registered two ducks in the series, one golden and the other a 4-ball duck. Despite the setback, Samson earned a place in the Indian side for the home series against Bangladesh. After scoring 29 and 10 in the first two clashes, Samson came through with a ton in the final T20I. Scored at a blazing strike rate of 236.17, the century by Sanju Samson quickly entered the record books as the 30-year-old became the first-ever Indian wicketkeeper-batter to smash a T20I ton.

Riding high on his assault against Bangladesh and the assurance of stability from the newly appointed Indian captain, Suryakumar Yadav, Samson opened the series against South Africa with a bang. As he went all guns blazing against the hosts, Samson once again answered the record books. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 107 off 45 balls at the iconic Durban, keeping the strike rate well above the 200 mark. Samson became the first-ever Indian batter to score consecutive centuries in T20Is, as Indian fans gauged that Samson had finally arrived.

However, as it turned out, Samson is yet to let go of the past trends. In the next two subsequent innings that followed his two consecutive record-breaking knocks, Samson registered two ducks. In the match where South Africa drew level with the visitors in the T20I series, Samson was stunned by Jansen as the pacer struck timber in the third ball of the opening innings. The next match, the third clash in the four-match series, witnessed the young Abhishek Sharma finally redeeming his showing with a half-century. However, Samson endured yet another duck, as Jansen once again claimed him bowled on a two-ball duck.

The season ahead will see Rishabh Pant returning from his Test duties following the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Following his ton in the first India vs South Africa match, Samson had explained that an assurance from skipper Suryakumar Yadav gave him the confidence to excel. However, the seasoned player had also expressed that he has seen more failures than successes in his career, a trend that seems to be continuing for him.

"While playing in the Duleep Trophy, Surya came to me and said, 'You have the next seven matches. You'll be opening in these seven matches, and I'll back you no matter what.' For the first time in my career, I received such clarity, which gave me confidence. The team management has been clear for the last few matches that I'll be opening,” Samson had said.

“I feel, honestly, I have faced a lot of failures in my career. Actually, I have had more failures than successes in my career. When you go through that fear, you tend to doubt yourself a lot,” he added then.

From his debut in 2015, Samson has played 32 T20I innings across multiple series, not in any particular order. The batter, juggling between the middle and top order, has scored 701 runs at an average of 24.17. Moreover, the batter has scored two half-centuries and as many centuries, which came while batting in the opening position. Now, it remains to be seen if the 'confidence' Samson gains from getting consistent opportunities will finally help him sort out his issues with finding 'consistency' in his batting form.