'Samson the future for India'

Sanju Samson is "definitely the future" for India, according to his India A fielding and wicketkeeping coach Abhay Sharma. Samson, who turns 20 in November, was the leading run-getter for India A in their victorious campaign in the quadrangular one-day series in Darwin, Australia, with 244 runs from seven matches.

"He is definitely the future for the country," Abhay told ESPNcricinfo. "As a batsman, he is a very sensible player. He understands situations and adapts his game to them. His innings against Australia A in theopening match was outstanding. He took us close in a game we had almost lost."

Samson came in at 70 for 4 in a chase of 253, and saw his side slip further to 84 for 6. He responded with an 81 that brought down the equation to 29 needed off 23 before he was last man out. Though he failed in the final, he guided India A home in successive chases before that with scores of 55 and 49, both unbeaten.

Samson, who has been prolific at Under-19 tournaments, also had a productive season with Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2014 with 339 runs at an average of 26.07 and a strike-rate of 124.17. Before that, he made 530 runs in the Ranji Trophy 2013-14 at 58.88. While he batted at No. 3 mostly for Royals, he moved down to No. 6 for India A in Darwin.

When asked if there was a case for making better use of Samson in the top order in the future, Abhay said his workload would have to be managed considering his dual utility as a batsman and a keeper. "Going forward, we will have to handle him very well, for he has to bat and keep too. He took that responsibility very well this time but we will have to work on him very carefully."

Abhay, a former Railways captain and wicketkeeper, said that Samson's keeping was also coming along quite well, and he was keen to learn. "His keeping is improving day by day. A little more work has to be done on a couple of technical things and constant monitoring is needed. He is a very good learner. He readily understands what I want to communicate and implements my plan. At times there is not even the need to speak to him and he will pick up even little signs. He has adapted very well to these conditions. A stumping he pulled off down the leg side was simply outstanding."

Abhay was also pleased with the standard of India A's ground fielding. The side claimed four run-outs in a match against the Australian National Performance Squad, and Abhay said that game stood out for him for the number of times India had found their target.

"We had 18 direct hits in that match, four of which resulted in run-outs. We had been working on target-hitting and it was great to see the intensity and momentum we created on the field. We even worked on slip catching on the second attempt when someone drops a chance the first time and Manoj (Tiwary) took one such catch in a game. It was very satisfying to see that."

Sanju Samson

India

Full name Sanju Viswanath Samson

Born November 11, 1994, Pulluvila, Vizhinjam, Trivandrum

Current age 19 years 266 days

Major teams India Under-19s, Kerala,Kerala Cricket Association XI, Kolkata Knight Riders,Rajasthan Royals

Batting style Right-hand bat

Fielding position Wicketkeeper

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
First-class	13	24	3	911	211	43.38	1637	55.65	4	3	102	19	7	0
List A	21	21	5	554	85*	34.62	706	78.47	0	4	43	10	18	3
Twenty20	48	46	5	1016	74	24.78	838	121.24	0	7	86	39	32	4

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
First-class	13	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
List A	21	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Twenty20	48	1	3	4	1	1/4	1/4	4.00	8.00	3.0	0	0	0

Career statistics

First-class debut	Vidarbha v Kerala at Nagpur, Nov 3-6, 2011 scorecard
Last First-class	Kerala v Maharashtra at Kannur, Dec 14-17, 2013 scorecard
List A debut	Andhra v Kerala at Bangalore, Feb 23, 2012 scorecard
Last List A	Australia A v India A at Darwin, Aug 2, 2014 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Hyderabad (India) v Kerala at Chennai, Oct 16, 2011 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals at Mumbai, May 25, 2014 scorecard

Recent matches

Bat & Bowl	Team	Opposition	Ground	Match Date	Scorecard
0c/0s, 5	India A	v Australia A	Darwin	2 Aug 2014	LA
0c/2s, 49*	India A	v Australia A	Darwin	31 Jul 2014	LA
1c/0s, 55*	India A	v NPS	Darwin	29 Jul 2014	LA
0c/0s, 28	India A	v Sth Africa A	Darwin	26 Jul 2014	LA
0c/0s, 2*	India A	v NPS	Darwin	24 Jul 2014	LA
24*, 3c/0s	India A	v Sth Africa A	Darwin	22 Jul 2014	LA
1c/0s, 81	India A	v Australia A	Darwin	20 Jul 2014	LA
74, 0c/0s	Royals	v Mum Indians	Mumbai	25 May 2014	T20
0c/0s, 30	Royals	v Kings XI	Mohali	23 May 2014	T20
0c/0s, 2	Royals	v Mum Indians	Ahmedabad	19 May 2014	T20

Profile

Despite being a teenager, Sanju Samson has emerged as a prime contender to be the flag-bearer of cricket for the state of Kerala, one of the few regions in India where football's popularity and following outdoes that of cricket. Samson shifted to Thiruvananthapuram in his early teens after taking his first cricket lessons in Delhi, where his father worked as a police constable. In Thiruvananthapuram, Sanju started creating waves in junior circuit with his bat. His impressive technique combined with an ability to time the ball first earned him a place in Kerala's U-19 team and a consistent outing in the Cooch Behar Trophy (domestic U-19 championship) elevated him into India's team for the U-19 Asia Cup in 2012.

Abhishek Purohit is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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