Indian cricket won the third and final ODI on Tuesday to keep their proud record of not losing an ODI to West Indies alive. India beat West Indies by a whopping 200 runs to win the series with a 2-1 margin. One of the leading lights of the game was none other than Sanju Samson. The 28 year old who had a breakthrough 2022 played his first game on Saturday before falling cheaply. The game on Tuesday was yet another chance for Samson to make his mark with the 2023 World Cup fast approaching.
The story as it happened –
West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl first yet again as they had done on Saturday. India made two changes as Ruturaj Gaikwad and Jaydev Unadkat came in for Umran Malik and Axar Patel. The Indian team yet again stunned everyone by benching Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Sanju Samson breaks silence after his knock –
It was an important game for Sanju Samson and he grabbed all the headlines. Samson scored 52 off 41 balls with 2 fours and 4 sixes. The 28 year old wasted no time as he went after the West Indian bowlers right from the start.
Speaking post the game, Samson said while speaking to the West Indian broadcast team “Being an Indian cricketer is challenging, I have played domestic cricket for the last 8-9 years and for India, here and there, so it gives you a bit of understanding of playing in different positions. It is the number of overs you get and it is not about batting position so you have to prepare accordingly,"
Samson impresses in a virtual bat off with SKY –
It was an important game for both Sanju Samson and Surya Kumar Yadav. Both the players are seeking to make their places permanent for the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup. SKY who had a poor run in ODI cricket this year was out for 35, while Samson scored an impressive half century as India scored 351.
Speaking further post the game, Samson said “It feels really great to spend some time in the middle, score some runs and contribute for your country. I had different plans for different players, I wanted to use my feet and dominate the lengths of the bowlers. That (Kensington Oval) was a bit damp, but this (surface) looks a bit dry. With the new ball, it was coming on nicely, but as the ball got old it was holding up and became slightly tough against the spinners. It was not easy to get that score, credit goes to the middle-order batters for hanging in and getting that score,”