"With all that talent, sometimes he tends to frustrate you" - Abhinav Mukund on Sanju Samson's half-century in 5th IND vs ZIM T20I
Abhinav Mukund has lauded Sanju Samson for scoring a mature half-century in the fifth T20I between India and Zimbabwe. He pointed out that the Kerala wicketkeeper-batter hasn't made the most of his talent at times previously.
Samson scored 58 runs off 45 deliveries as India set Zimbabwe a 168-run target in the final T20I in Harare on Sunday, July 14. The visitors then bundled Sikandar Raza and company out for 125 to register a 42-run win and complete a 4-1 series victory.
Reviewing the game on Sony Sports, Mukund noted that captaining the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League has made Samson more mature.
"It's a tough place to be Sanju Samson in Indian cricket because with all that talent, sometimes he tends to frustrate you, he doesn't show the maturity. I feel that's where captaining in the IPL, like he told me earlier, has really helped him because he plays with superstars but he also deals with youngsters as well like Riyan Parag and Yashasvi Jaiswal," he elaborated.
The former India opener added that Samson has staked his claim for the wicketkeeper-batter's position in India's T20I side.
"That's where you see his maturity as a batter come through. There is immense competition for a wicketkeeper slot in Indian cricket at the moment, and Sanju Samson has just put his hand up today and said 'Listen, I am still here, so you better not count me out in any of these conversations'," Mukund said.
Samson and Rishabh Pant were the two wicketkeepers in India's 2024 T20 World Cup squad. While Pant played all the games, Samson wasn't included in the XI as a specialist batter either.
"He was magnificent in how he paced his innings" - Tino Mawoyo on Sanju Samson
![Sanju Samson struck a solitary four and four sixes in his innings. [P/C: ZimbabweCricket/X]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/07/d6d9b-17210145716189-1920.jpg?w=500)
Tino Mawoyo concurred with Abhinav Mukund about the maturity shown by Sanju Samson during Sunday's knock.
"I liked the word you used to describe his innings today - mature, because I thought that's what he was. We have seen Sanju Samson, we have seen him try and take on spinners early, sometimes it happens and it works out for him, and sometimes it doesn't. But today, I thought he was magnificent in how he paced his innings," he explained.
The former Zimbabwe batter particularly appreciated a couple of sumptuous shots Samson played.
"He realized that it was important for him at that stage to make sure he batted through the innings and he did that. He played two glorious strokes which he just timed, over extra cover to the spinner and the seamer. When you can play shots like that in T20 cricket, things are going very well for you because a lot of it is wanting to force the ball. He played some really good shots today," Mawoyo observed.
Samson added 65 runs with Riyan Parag (22 off 24) after India were reduced to 40/3. The 58-run knock was just his second half-century in 24 T20I innings, and he will hope to be more consistent going forward.