‘Winning IPL won’t give him Team India ticket’ – Ex-selector’s Bold verdict on Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson has led his side Rajasthan Royals pretty well in the IPL 2023 season and will be eyeing a comeback in the Indian Team with his IPL performance. However, former selector Sarandeep Singh reckons winning IPL won’t help Samson’s case and he will need to score enough runs as well.

Samson has been a consistent performer in the Indian Premier League for the last few years. Despite performing pretty well in IPL over the years, Samson has remained in-and-out of the Indian national team.

Rajasthan Royals are placed at the top of the IPL 2023 points table with 4 victories in 6 games. Sanju Samson himself has also performed decently scoring 159 runs in 6 games so far including a couple of half-centuries.

Sanju Samson’s performance in the ODI format was good: Sarandeep Singh

“Sanju Samson got his chances as an opener in T20Is when we were selectors. We gave him a proper chance. But at that time, he wasn’t really able to make a mark. In the fifty-over games, he played in the middle-order and his performances were good. But what happens is, during the same time, there are other wicketkeeper-batters who perform well as well,” Sarandeep Singh said on JioCinema.

“Ishan Kishan scored a double-hundred recently. Of course, Rishabh Pant is there. Dinesh Karthik had also made a return last year. That’s why, sometimes you don’t get many chances,” the former selector further added.

Only performances can get you picked in the Indian Team: Sarandeep Singh

“But I don’t necessarily believe that winning the IPL title would help his case. Because you may win the IPL, but what if you don’t score enough runs in the season? So, performances are the only criteria. If you’re scoring 700-800 runs in an IPL season, you will definitely get picked. Yes, winning the IPL title is important, but only performances can get you picked,” Singh discussed about the selection criteria.

Meanwhile, Team India are in need of a wicketkeeper-batter as Rishabh Pant will remain out of the action for the next few months. On the other hand, Ishan Kishan has been inconsistent with the bat in the past few months.

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Sanju Samson must be looking to impress the Indian team selectors with his performance in IPL 2023. A good consistent run in the cash-rich league will make his case further stronger for selection. The selectors too must be having a close look on his batting considering the 2023 ODI World Cup and 2024 T20 World Cup.