Shashi Tharoor has questioned the Indian think tank’s decision to demote Sanju Samson and push Shubman Gill into the opener’s slot along with Abhishek Sharma in Indian cricket team’s batting line-up at the Asia Cup, where India won all seven of their games—including three against Pakistan—to win the title.
“It is fair to ask a few questions, without in any way detracting from our victory. Was it right to break up the hugely successful opening partnership of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, and relegate a three-time centurion to a middle slot where he was uncomfortable? Did Gill’s performances at the Asia Cup justify such a change? Would it not be better to restore Sanju to the place where he has shone for India, put Gill at number three, and have Surya take the number five slot instead?” Tharoor asked on X using the popular hashtag “just asking”.
While playing in the middle order, Samson still outscored Gill, ending with 132 runs in the four innings he got the chance to bat. Gill ended the Asia Cup with a total of 127 after batting in all seven games for India.
Samson was pushed even lower down the order in the Super 4 game against Bangladesh, where he never got the chance to bat with Axar Patel coming in ahead of him. In that game, Sanjay Manjrekar had asked Samson what his favoured position was in the batting order.
“There’s our actor, Mohanlal, who got a big award from the Indian government (the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest award in the field of cinema). He has been an actor for 20, 30, 40 years. I have been playing for India for 10 years. So, I can’t come in and say ‘I only can do the hero role.’ I need to be a villain. I need to be a joker. I need to play around,” Samson told Sony Sports Network. “You can’t say that you have scored runs in the opening position and you are really good in the top three spots. I feel let me try this also. No one can say why I can’t be a good villain. Let’s see how it goes.”
Tharoor, a Congress MP, also praised India coach Gautam Gambhir, a former MP for BJP.
“As we rejoice at the thrilling victory in the Asia Cup final last night, let us also pay tribute to the oft-maligned coach, Gautam Gambhir and the selectors, who picked the perfect team for the tournament. They are always the first to be blamed when things go wrong, But let’s salute them for getting pretty much everything right this time!” Tharoor wrote.
The postShashi Tharoor asks if Shubman Gill justified Indian team dropping Sanju Samson down the order | Cricket News appeared first on Indian Express
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