"He does well in one or two matches and then he does not do anything" - Kapil Dev on Sanju Samson's inconsistent career
Former Indian World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev has expressed his concerns over the inconsistency of Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Sanju Samson.
Samson scored 458 runs in the IPL 2022 season but could convert just two of his starts into big scores.
Kapil Dev believes it is the wicketkeeper's inconsistency that's hurting him with respect to a place in the current Indian squad. He feels Samson is not short of talent but just needs to work on getting the big scores and not throwing away his starts.
Before rating Sanju samson give him atleast 50% chances that Rishabh Pant got. 46 T20i matches with 23 avg and 126 SR speaks volumes about Pant the t20 player. #INDvsSA https://t.co/K1mE0xV1Sx
Speaking on "Uncut," Kapil Dev also shed light on the other wicketkeeping options that India have at the moment like Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, and Dinesh Karthik. He said:
"I am disappointed with Sanju Samson. He is so talented. He does well in one or two matches and then he does not do anything. If you talk about wicketkeepers, they're all almost the same. But if you talk about being the better batter, on a given day all four can win you matches."
Dev added about another Indian wicketkeeper, Wriddhiman Saha:
"If you talk about Wriddhiman Saha, he is a better wicket-keeper than these four. But these four, as a batsman, are better."
Dinesh Karthik is ahead of all in terms of consistency: Kapil Dev
India have three wicketkeeping options to choose from for the T20 World Cup in Australia within their current T20I squad in Pant, Kishan and Karthik. Kapil Dev opined that out of the three, the Tamil Nadu gloveman is miles ahead when it comes to scoring consistently.
He also believes Ishan Kishan felt the pressure of the price tag in the IPL 2022 season and that's what bogged him down. Dev stated:
"If we talk about consistency currently, Dinesh Karthik is ahead of all. Ishan Kishan has, I think, come under pressure. Maybe it's the pressure of the high price that he garnered at the IPL auction. I have never got so much money so I will not be able to say."
On the rise 💫
#INDvSA https://t.co/9tk3njVGks
Further praising Karthik for his fairytale comeback into the Indian team, Kapil Dev added:
"I don't think Dinesh Karthik has surpassed Rishabh Pant in T20s. But this time, he has done so well that he forced selectors to not ignore him. Pant is a youngster who has lot of cricket left, then there is Karthik who has loads of experience. The more said about Karthik the less. He started before [MS] Dhoni and is still continuing."
If India choose to go with just two wicketkeeping options for the T20 World Cup, it will be interesting to see who they leave out from the aforementioned options.