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India batter Sanju Samson became a subject of mockery on social media after an injury ruled him out of the T20I series against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.
“Samson hurt his left knee while attempting to field a ball near the boundary ropes during the first T20I,” a BCCI statement read. “He was taken for scans and a specialist opinion this afternoon in Mumbai by the BCCI Medical Team and has been advised rest and rehabilitation.”
For a long time, Sanju Samson has been an enigma in Indian cricket, considering the team management never gave him a long rope despite having impressive numbers in white-ball cricket. More often than not, Team India overlooked him due to the presence of KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant in their line-up.
Interestingly, both KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are not a part of India's current squad of players against Sri Lanka after the two appeared to have been dropped from the team following a string of dismal outings in limited-overs cricket.
This was precisely the reason, the fans and cricket pundits, including former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara expected a long run for him in the Indian team this time around.
“I want to see Sanju getting a long run in this Indian side because he is a very special player. They have got a good mixture of pace, spin and utility players. It will be a tough challenge for Sri Lanka but in T20 they have tools to match them,” Kumar Sangakkara told PTI ahead of the start of the T20I series.
“He's ideally suited at no.4 in T20 cricket, coming in after the first seven overs are Kumar Sangakkara added.
“He can bat anywhere; I think in India, when he plays, he has to bat out of position. He has power, he has got touch, he has got a great temperament, good head on his shoulders. He understands how to navigate difficult situations. You can slot him anywhere and he will do well,” the former Sri Lanka captain noted.
However, an unfortunate knee injury that Sanju Samson suffered while fielding in the first match in Mumbai, has now ended his hopes of having a consistent run of games in the national team.
As the news of his injury was announced by the Indian cricket board, trolls took to social media to have fun at his expense, claiming who will now be blamed for his absence.
Meanwhile, others claimed that the Rajasthan Royals skipper was the unluckiest cricket star on the planet.
One Twitter user even declared that his international career was cursed and he should retire from the sport as quickly as possible.
“So Sanju Samson ruled out completely. It's better to retire, he should play other country league games. His international career is cursed, he only gets a chance once in blue moon and if he fails in one match, he will be dropped immediately,” the fan wrote on Twitter.
People who thought, now sanju Samson will get lots of opportunities. He will play consistently for India : pic.twitter.com/OWa6Ih65Wt
— Cricket With Laresh (@Lareshhere) January 4, 2023
When pant is in team people said why not sanjuu ???
When Pant is out of team he think what am I doing here?? 🥲 #SanjuSamson pic.twitter.com/5yh8Cl4Ql3— Ѧ†ʊℓ🇮🇳 (@atulyd7) January 4, 2023
https://twitter.com/Naman4122/status/1610685613749202944
Sanju Samson is unluckiest Cricketer I ever seen 🙂 pic.twitter.com/zyoyVjded0
— Avi29 (@RoyalAvi029) January 4, 2023
Sanju Samson has been ruled out of India vs sri Lanka T20 Series.#INDvSL #INDvsSL
Fans : pic.twitter.com/vUTgT5MD0z
— Cricket With Laresh (@Lareshhere) January 4, 2023
Even before he was injured, Sanju Samson was criticized for his knock in the first T20I at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Coming out to bat at No.4 in the new-look Indian side led by Hardik Pandya, the 28-year-old only managed to score 5 runs off 6 deliveries before getting out to Dhananjaya de Silva.
His dismissal of the Sri Lankan spinner wasn't liked by the legendary Sunil Gavaskar who blasted him for his poor shot selection.
“And this time, it's the leading edge going to short third man. He is such a fine player. Sanju Samson has so much of talent but his shot selection sometimes lets him down. And this is one more occasion where it has disappointed,” Sunil Gavaskar said while commentating on the game.
A similar point was raised by former Sri Lanka all-rounder Farveez Maharoof who opined that Sanju Samson was having trouble reading the Lankan spinners. He pointed out that he was unable to pick Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva from the hand during his brief stay at the crease on Tuesday.
“I don't think most of the Indian players pick Hasaranga or are comfortable playing against him, unless he bowls a bad delivery. I don't think players like Sanju Samson pick him. Even Hardik Pandya is not that confident to face him when it's on a good length,” Farveez Maharoof said on ESPNcricinfo.
“I reckon Dasun Shanaka was very smart, the way he used Hasaranga. They did their homework very well,” he concluded.
The second match of the three-match T20I series between India and Sri Lanka will be played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Thursday.
