Samson’s 128 frustrates Sri Lanka
Skipper Sanju Samson stood out with a sublime 128 to lead Board President's XI fightback against visiting Sri Lanka as their two-day tour match ended in a draw here.
In reply to Sri Lanka's 411/9 declared, the Board President's XI were struggling at 31/2 after lunch on the second day, but Samson patiently built his innings and helped his side reach 287/5 when both captains agreed on a stalemate after 75 overs.
During his 143-ball knock, Samson hit 19 fours and one six.
Appointed skipper on the eve of the match after Naman Ojha was ruled out with an injury, the Kerala youngster showed big match temperament as he took on the Sri Lankan Test attack with ease.
Samson anchored the Board innings with three useful partnerships of 68, 71 and 85 runs with Jiwanjot Singh (35), Rohan Prem (39) and Bavanaka Sandeep (33) respectively.
On a track that offered little help to bowlers, Sri Lanka ended up using 10 bowlers, including regular wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella, who bowled the last over of the match.
Ace allrounder Angelo Mathews, who is recovering from a calf injury that forced him out of the entire Pakistan series, however was not seen bowling his medium pacers.
Bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake said Mathews would not bowl in the upcoming three Test series beginning at Eden Gardens on November 16.
"He will not be used as a bowler as we have enough options for the bowling allroudners' slot," Ratnayake said.
On a frustrating day for the Lankan attack, it was their new-ball bowler Lahiru Gamage, who was most effective en route to his 2/41. Dhoni said when he was asked to comment on Agarkar's remarks.
Dhoni, who won the 2007 inaugural World T20 as captain with a young India team and the 2011 ODI World Cup, struggled to get going as India lost by 40 runs in the second T20I against New Zealand in Rajkot. The 36-year-old, though, still finds enough motivation wearing the India colours.
"The biggest motivation is being a part of the Indian cricket team. You have seen cricketers who are not godgifted, but even then, they have gone far. That's because of the passion. The coaches need to find that out. Everybody doesn't play for the country." a youngster to try such shots due to the chance of getting injured.
"(It is) something I learnt while playing tennis ball cricket on the roads of India. It is difficult. In tennis ball cricket even it's hit from the toe of the bat the ball still travels a lot but in normal cricket it has to be the middle part of the bat, so it requires a lot of work. I don't want them to play helicopter shots because they could get injured."
Dhoni retired from Test cricket during India's tour of Australia in 2014/15 before stepping down as skipper of the limited overs side in 2016, allowing Virat Kohli to take on the mantle of Indian captaincy in all three formats of the game.