‘I would play Sanju Samson in the Indian T20 team everyday’ – Harsha Bhogle after RR skipper’s outstanding show against GT

Rajasthan Royals beat Gujarat Titans by 3 wickets in Match 23 of the Indian Premier League season 16 on Sunday, April 16 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. RR chased down the target of 178 with four balls to spare courtesy of half-centuries from captain Sanju Samson (60 off 32) and Shimron Hetmyer (56* off 26).

Samson walked in to bat in a precarious situation for his side as they were 4/2 after 2.5 overs and were staring down the barrel. However, the 28-year-old helped his team cross the 100-run mark and gave the perfect platform for Hetmyer to complete the finishing job. Following Samson’s heroic knock, cricket pundit Harsha Bhogle called for his selection in the Indian T20I team.

Bhogle took to Twitter and wrote, “I would play Sanju Samson in the Indian T20 team every day.”

Having made his debut way back in 2015, Samson has just played 17 T20Is so far and scored 301 runs at an average of 20.06 with one half-century to his name. The Kerala-born cricketer has also played 11 ODIs scoring 330 runs at an average of 66 with two fifties in his career.

Despite knocking on the doors of the selectors time and again with his sensational performances, Samson has been often ignored by the selectors which has even led to his fans running hashtags in his support on social media platforms. With Rishabh Pant out of the mix for over a year due to injury, the wicketkeeper-batter is once again making a strong case for his selection in the team for the ODI World Cup later this year and the next T20 World Cup.

Rajasthan registered their third consecutive win

Coming back to the match, after being put in to bat first, Gujarat Titans posted 177/7 on the board in the first innings with David Miller top scoring with 46 off 30 and Shubman Gill scoring 45 off 34. Sandeep Sharma was the pick of the bowlers for RR as he finished his spell on 2/25 in four overs.

In reply RR were 55/4 after 10.3 overs, however, Samson and Hetmyer played out of their skin to help their side continue their victory run in the season. Following their victory, Rajasthan are ranked on the top of the points table with four wins to their name in five matches.