Sanju Samson made his return to red-ball cricket in style. Playing in Ranji Trophy after a long gap of nearly three years, Samson smashed his way to half-century on the opening day of Kerala's clash against Jharkhand in Ranchi.
Batting at no.5, Kerala skipper Samson did not curb his natural instinct to attack. Samson walked out to bat at no.5. In the second session, Kerala had lost three wickets in a space of just eight runs, courtesy left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem who got the better of Rohan Kunnummal (50) and Sachin Baby (0).
Samson took his time and accelerated. He defended good balls and did not over-attack. He ensured that he cashes in on ordinary deliveries and sends them flying over the ropes. He got to his half-century from 69 deliveries. The six-hitting spree continued but right-arm off-spinner Utkarsh Singh got the better of him in the 72nd over. Ishan Kishan who had recently slammed a record-breaking double hundred against Bangladesh took the catch.
In his 72-run knock from 108 deliveries, Samson smashed seven sixes and four fours. Kerala posted 276/6 on Day 1 with Akshay Chandran (39) and Sijomon Joseph (28) building a partnership. Earlier, opener Rohan Prem had scored 79 before walking back to the pavillion.
Samson's last Ranji Trophy appearance was under Baby's captaincy against Parthiv Patel-led Gujarat. While he got out for a single-digit score in the first innings, the hard-hitting batter showed intent and scored 78 runs from 82 deliveries in the second innings in an unsuccesful run chase of 268. Kerala got all out for 177 and lost the game by 90 runs.
Samson had been focusing on white-ball cricket while he has been in and out of the senior side. There have been calls from former cricketers to include him in the side. Recently, he was rested from the ODI side that suffered a 1-2 loss against Litton Das-led Bangladesh. Earlier, he was included only in first of the three-ODI series. The 28-year-old was dropped as India needed a sixth bowling option.
So far, Samson has impressive ODI numbers. He has scored 330 runs from 10 innings at an average of 66 including two half-centuries. His strike rate has been a healthy 104.76.
