Sanju Samson being an apparent middle-order misfit will certainly worry head coach Gautam Gambhir and the Indian team management might be tempted to check out Jitesh Sharma during their inconsequential final Super 4 encounter against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup here on Friday.
Apart from Samson, who is not fitting into the puzzle called the Indian batting order, the only other worry at the moment could be missing 10 catches so far in the tournament, including five against Bangladesh en route to final.
“Sanju is still figuring out how to bat at No. 5,” fielding coach Ryan ten Doeschate had said before the Bangladesh game.
It is understood that Samson’s past record at the top is preventing the team to drop him but in a format where one needs to assign specific roles, it is Jitesh Sharma who fits into the character of a middle-order slogger come finisher.
A look at his batting sample size at various positions in the IPL over past few seasons will give a clearer picture.
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Jitesh at No.5 has played 18 knocks and scored 374 runs in 253 balls at a healthy strike-rate of 147.8 while at No.6 he has performed even better.
He scored 384 runs off 230 balls in 15 innings at a strike rate of 167. The Vidarbha stumper, at No.7, has played 76 balls and scored 136 runs in seven innings at a strike-rate of 178.9.
The numbers show that Samson is being forced to don a role which is out of his character while the team management has a ‘ready-made option’ for the same part.
But as of now, in this bioscope, the director (Gambhir in this case) isn’t flexible as far as changing characters are concerned.
Hence Jitesh might have to wait a bit longer but India wouldn’t like to pay a price for that. The Sri Lanka match also gives them a chance to rest Jasprit Bumrah (only if he wants) before the grand finale.
Disclaimer: The story “India vs Sri Lanka, Asia Cup 2025: Team India’s final chance to test RCB star player as a ‘finisher’ in Super Four clash” first appeared on Cricket Country and is syndicated via Digpu & NewsTex.