Ashwin Warns Gambhir, Surya Against ‘Circus’ Around Sanju Samson Amid Rough Patch

Sanju Samson goes to the third T20I against New Zealand with an increased criticism following low scores in the first two matches. As an opener in the side, the India wicketkeeper-batter has not impressed on the top of the order in the New Zealand series yet. He scored 6 and 10 with the inability to settle and change his starts, and this has raised his position and role under scrutiny as the series goes on. As such an opening player like Ishan Kishan continues to impress with the bat, the pressure is building on Samson now to score a big bat so as to be able to hold on to his opening slot.

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But old time India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin does not believe so. He added his voice to the debate on whether India should open its slots or not, but said that people should not change so fast regardless of the latest form changes. The longtime all-rounder emphasized that the constant chop and change of the line up particularly that of Samson and Ishan Kishan might cause a lot of disturbance in the dressing room and may hamper the balance of the team.

“It's way too early to think of dropping him. If India keeps doing such circus acts by playing Sanju when he did well before, and now Kishan because he's playing well now, I don't have to tell how it'll end for India. It's not ideal inside the dressing room. There is a lot of competition for places, but it's too early for this change,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

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“It'll be very unfair”

Ashwin defended Samson by claiming that it was not fair to drop him after only two games in the new first line-up. Ashwin has explained that the reason why Sanju was sacked during the second T20I is merely the instinctive, aggressive nature of cricket and no failure to contain his composure.

"It'll be very unfair. This opening combination has been reverted only for the last two games. A player has got out playing an attacking shot. If you penalize him for that and bench him, how will you witness the best of that player? It wasn't that there was a rush of blood or that he wasn't calm. He just saw the ball and went for it ( 2nd T20I dismissal). That's how you should instinctively bat, but it just didn't go his way," said Ashwin.

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