‘No replacement for Bumrah, but we’ve talent coming along’: Samson after Hyderabad loss
Hyderabad, Oct 15 (IANS) India wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson acknowledged that no one can replace a bowler like Jasprit Bumrah as India face a bowling challenge in the ongoing white-ball series against the West Indies.
Bumrah was rested for the T20I series against the West Indies after participating in the Asian Games, as the BCCI looks to manage the workload of its talisman fast bowler.
In his absence, India’s bowling has been tested on flat pitches in the ongoing series against the Windies. Speaking in the post-match press conference, Samson admitted that there remains no replacement for a player like Bumrah, but India are also having talent elsewhere.
“There is no replacement for Jasprit Bumrah. He is a once-in-a-generation kind of bowler, and we are very lucky to have him. But we have had some really good talent coming along also; Arshdeep (Singh) has been doing a great job, and also the way Prince Yadav has bowled in the last few games is very impressive. I feel we have some really good talent. The more we play them, the more we back them, the better they will become,” Samson said after the 24-run loss in the fourth T20I at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
Arshdeep took a blow to his left arm while batting late in the second innings. Samson spoke on the speedster’s blow, stating that he hoped the bowler recovers well in time for the fifth T20I on Saturday. “Arshdeep is putting ice on his shoulder,” Samson said. “Hopefully he recovers soon.”
Samson lauded Shai Hope for the innings the Windies captain has been producing in India. Hope has hit two centuries and a fifty in the four T20I games, while he also smashed two centuries in the preceding ODI series.
“He (Hope) is playing really well; we need to respect what he has been doing. He has been playing some really good cricketing shots, not taking that much risk, so he is respecting the bowlers as well.
“We need to give the credit to him for the way he is batting, and we are definitely switched on how to respond to him every game,” he added.
The wicketkeeper batter also backed India’s top order as Abhishek Sharma had a rare struggle in the fourth match, where he made 29 from 24 balls. “Ishan (Kishan) and Abhishek Sharma are the world’s best top two batters; I think you cannot ask anything more out of them, one game is okay. (Abhishek) just scored a really good 70 (69) in the last game and Ishan is consistently scoring a lot of runs, so one game is totally fine,” Samson said, backing his teammates.
He stated that the turning point of the match was when Tilak Varma got out in the 17th over, calling that India were very much in the game when Varma and Nitish Reddy were together. “The turning point of the match was when Tilak got out. We were cruising, scoring those 10-12 runs per over really nicely.
“Reddy and Tilak were batting really well in the pressure situation. Till that moment, I think we were in the chase. That is actually a great thing to have after losing five wickets, having that kind of control – two young cricketers taking on the pressure and taking on the West Indian bowling line-up,” he said.
–IANS
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