Sanju Samson reflects on competition with Vaibhav Sooryavnashi after match-winning knock against Afghanistan

Star India batter

in the second T20I against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. The keeper-batter was out of the Zimbabwe tour after a poor run of form against Ireland and England, but for the series against Afghanistan, the team management once again trusted Samson. He struggled to make an impression in the first T20I, which led to calls of reintroducing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the playing XI. However, in the second game, Samson rose to the occasion and smacked 57 runs off 22 balls as India won the match by seven wickets.

After the match, the Kerala cricket was asked about his competition with Sooryavanshi and also Abhishek Sharma at the top of the order. Reflecting upon that, Samson noted that the challenge is hard, but he understands that all the cricketers are representing the nation and the goal is to win it for the country. He also highlighted that everyone in the top order is putting up gopd shows, but for him, it’s all about controlling the controllables.

“It's a very challenging place to be in, I think, right from the whole team management and everyone... right from the captain, right from the coach, right from the selectors. It's a very tough choice, actually. All of them are really good and all of them are performing, and all of them have to be given a right opportunity to keep performing at the international level. So, it's a very tough decision, actually,” Samson said in the post-match press conference.

“I totally understand myself leading an IPL franchise; I know how hard these decisions are, and everyone has been performing really well. So, I have been in this kind of a space from quite a few years, so I just know how to balance it out... just think about what is in my control and try to be very positive with your competitors as well. I think they are competitors for the outside world, but we are a team and we are playing for a country and we want to win the game first, and then it comes down to other individuals,” he added.

Samson also spoke about being dropped from the playing XI during England tour, with Sooryavanshi replacing him and eventually owing the spot n the Zimbabwe series. The 31-year-old noted that Sooryavanshi proved his mettle in the series in the IPL after scoring over 700 runs and it was only fair for the youngster to find a spot, especially when he struggled to make a mark.

“As I said earlier, running the Indian team is not an easy task. You see a 15-year-old boy who has come after scoring 700-800 runs. My tournament was before that. After that, he performed so well, and he had to come in some way or another. I didn't perform in 2-3 games, and he was in form, and we wanted to win games in that series. It was very understandable from a leadership standpoint. As I mentioned before, I have been in this situation myself; I've also taken tough calls as a captain in an IPL franchise, so I understand,” Samson said.

“That's where communication comes in. As I said earlier, GG bhai's communication was very important. Even during the England series, there was a lot of communication, and before this series too, he came and spoke to me a lot. Taking hard decisions is not easy. Taking very popular decisions is the easiest thing, but as a leadership group, we have been taking some really tough calls, keeping the team first. So, that's where credit goes to our team's leadership group,” he added.