In the last six months, the number of talented players that have emerged for the Indian cricket team has been a very good sign for the future of Indian cricket. Even in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, Delhi Capitals (DC) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) are led by two young captains in Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson. Former Indian cricketer Pragyan Ojha came up with an interesting analogy for the Royals captain – who hasn’t cemented his place in the Indian cricket team.
Leading the Royals in the first match against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Samson almost single-handedly won the match for his team as he scored 119 runs from just 63 balls. With 5 to win off the last ball, Samson holed one straight to deep cover which saw Punjab clinch the thriller. However, in the next match against Delhi Capitals (DC), Samson couldn’t reach double digits as he was dismissed for Kagiso Rabada for 4.
Analysing Samson’s performance, Ojha opined that the likes of Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan who made their international debuts after Samson have left a better impression than Samson.
“When you talk about Sanju Samson, there is one thing. When he came into this side, there was no Rishabh Pant, there was no Ishan Kishan,” Ojha told Sports Today.
The former left-arm spinner went on to add that youngsters like Samson cannot afford to have lean patches and they need to reinvent themselves every now and then unlike India’s two batting stalwarts in Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma – who are like ‘post-paid sim cards’ which can go on for a longer duration compared to pre-paid ones.
“In this present Indian team, consider this interesting story Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are like post-paid sim cards. They can push themselves for a bit more time without paying the bills.
“But quite a few youngsters are like pre-paid sim cards. It has to be renewed in the given time otherwise the sim is dead. All these youngsters should understand they are not post-paid sim cards. They are pre-paid sim cards, to become postpaid, they have to perform consistently,” he added.
