Samson hits record 212, Kerala win big
NEWDELHI: Sanju Samson blasted an unbeaten 212, the highest score in the Vijay Hazare Trophy inter-state one-day tournament history, in Kerala’s Elite Group A match against Goa in Alur, near Bengaluru on Saturday. The 24-year-old keeper-batsman raced to the fastest List A double century by an Indian, reaching the mark off 125 balls, facing four more deliveries in his innings.
Samson’s 338-run partnership with Kerala skipper Sachin Baby (127) is the highest third-wicket stand ever in List A cricket, surpassing the 331 between Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. Kerala amassed 377/3. Goa managed 153/3 as play was called off due to inclement weather. Goa were 104 runs short of the revised target.
Samson, who has two T20 centuries and nine in first-class cricket, became only the sixth Indian batsman—the eighth instance—to hit a List A double. He surpassed the 202 of Uttarakhand’s Karn Veer Kaushal versus Sikkim in last year’s Vijay Hazare edition. Five of India’s eight List A double centuries have come in ODIS —Rohit Sharma (3), Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. Shikhar Dhawan scored the other, for India A versus South Africa A. Brief scores: Kerala 377/3 bt Goa 153/3 by 104 runs (revised target); TN 360/4 in 50 overs (A Mukund 147, V Shankar 90) beat MP 149 all out in 28.4 overs (M Ashwin 3/14); Rajasthan 268/5 in 50 overs beat Bihar 109 all out in 36.3 ovs Many fans will nod knowingly and exclaim; “I’ve seen this script before—rohit Sharma starts out with a bang in Test cricket.”
However, unlike a regurgitated version of an old movie, this script has a new twist; Rohit opened for the first time. Onr Test debut, Rohit scored a century against West Indies and followed up with another one in the next match. On both occasions he batted at six, behind the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.
When he recently debuted as a Test opener against South Africa, he scored twin centuries against a strong attack headed by Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander. As an opener, he preceded Kohli, which could be an important factor in whether this incarnation of Rohit is a success or a failure.
RICHARDS VS GREENIDGE
This move makes a lot of sense. As a One-day opener, Rohit has established himself as the next most dangerous batsman to Kohli. The move to opening means Rohit bats ahead of Kohli in Test matches and this is crucial to revitalising his career in the longer format.
There appeared to be two things holding Rohit back at Test level; he was unsure what type of player he should be and at times he seemed overawed by Kohli’s glowing presence.
This was not the fault of Rohit’s skipper but a result of Kohli’s enormous popularity among Indian fans. The raucous response to Kohli’s appearance at the crease is enough to intimidate the best of players and Rohit’s predicament is one I’ve witnessed before.
Whenever Viv Richards entered the arena I felt Australia’s chances of removing West Indies opener Gordon Greenidge improved. Greenidge was a very fine batsman—he probably never realised how good—but such was Richards’ aura that Gordon appeared to shrink in his presence.
Batting Rohit ahead of Kohli affords him the opportunity to establish himself before the skipper arrives at the crease. This in turn diminishes any adverse effect the crowd’s infatuation with Kohli is likely to have on Rohit.
The other advantage to Rohit opening is it paints a clear picture of how he should play. He obviously needs to be watchful at first but there’s also plenty of opportunity to score quickly with the field up. If Rohit does get a start it then means he’s more at ease when facing spinners with some runs