Blessing in disguise for Samson

Days after the ‘painfully’ smiling tweet screaming his exclusion, Sanju replaces injured Dhawan

Opener Shikhar Dhawan was on Wednesday ruled out of the T20 International series against the West Indies due to a knee injury, making way for Sanju Samson, who was dropped without getting a chance in the recent series against Bangladesh.

Dhawan suffered a deep cut on his left knee during a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy game against Maharashtra in Surat, the BCCI said in a statement.

For Samson, while the likes of Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir have time and again praised the talent he possesses, critics have often said that consistency is an issue with Kerala batsman. And with head coach Ravi Shastri making it clear that the spot of a batsman who can keep is still open for the World T20 in Australia next year, the question on everyone's mind is if Samson can be the answer.

Speaking to IANS, Samson said that while he is open to keeping wickets, consistency isn't something that he loses sleep over. For the 25-yearold, it is more about playing match-winning knocks and seeing his team finish on top than personal glory.

"I have never thought of that (consistency) as an issue. What I have understood is that I am a bit different type of a player where I just feel that I should go and dominate the bowlers. So, when I have a style and I am looking to dominate the bowlers, it can happen if I go behind consistency, I will lose my style of batting. I don't want to change my style of playing to bring in consistency.

"I like to keep things as simple as possible and when I get the opportunity I look to score big. If I get five innings, I want to score big in one or two innings and win matches for my team. Consistency in my innings won't win matches for my team. It is more important to play an outstanding innings to win my team games. I go behind that kind of idea," he explained.

About keeping wickets. Samson says that he has never shied away from the responsibility and it is the team management which makes those calls.

"I have been keeping wickets in white-ball cricket for Kerala for the last five or six years and have also kept in the Ranji Trophy format. I keep that as an open thing. Whatever my team requires, I do it accordingly.” —IANS