CHENNAI: The top brass of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was present at Eden Gardens on Tuesday. Sometime during the first qualifier between Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals, both Saurav Ganguly, president, and Jay Shah, secretary, may have been tempted to have a conference call with the national selectors to ask why Sanju Samson was left out for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa.
Samson, whose name literally means a man who possesses great physical strength, made a mockery of the selectors' choices. Walking in to bat at No 3 after being asked to bat first on a fresh surface with one side of the ground on the shorter side, the skipper knew they had to get an above-par score to have a chance of making the final. With Jos Buttler dotting up at the other end, the 27-year-old owned the situation. His 26-ball 47 (80.8 per cent in boundaries) acted as a timely reminder as to why Samson's T20 skillset — a top-order Indian batter who hits from ball one and is comfortable clearing boundaries — is almost unique in an Indian context.
The first ball he faced was a pick-up shot off Yash Dayal for a six over long on. His next four scoring shots were 4, 4, 6 and 6. The intent was flawless and it was matched by the execution.
While the exhibition stopped soon after — he perished at long-on while trying to clear Alzarri Joseph off R Sai Kishore — he stayed true to his ethos of putting the team's needs over individual milestones. He may never win the Orange Cap but he has made his peace with it because that's the kind of batter he wants to be.
Why is Samson like this even as a few other top-order Indian batters like to build their innings before exploding at the death. It comes from proper role clarity and having the courage to play high-risk, high-reward cricket without worrying about the consequences of the inherent failures such a structure brings.
Three weeks ago, in a revealing interview in 'Breakfast With Champions', a seasonal talk show, he explained why he plays the way he does. "... In T20s, when you are playing that role and going in to hit sixes, you need to have some guts," he explained. "You need to be brave enough to do that role. Brave enough to fail... backing yourself even in times when you have got no one on your side. That was the main thing for me, that's when I really found out what I am.
"I am not here to score lots and lots of runs. I'm here to score a small amount of runs which are very effective for the team."
His impetus set Rajasthan on their way at a time when Buttler, the current holder of the Orange Cap was struggling for timing and rhythm. Luckily for them, after Samson left, Buttler assumed centre-stage, thanks mainly to a dodgy fielding performance from Hardik Pandya & Co.
He once again unfurled his full hitting range at the death going from 37 off 35 to 89 off 56 in the last five overs. It helped them finish on 188/6, but make no mistake the man who set the ball rolling was Samson.
While the Indian team management have seemingly leaned towards run accumulation rather than short cameos, they may find it increasingly hard to ignore him because he possesses two of the main currencies in this format: conviction and no fear to lose his wicket.