‘It's important he gets a longer rope’ - Robin Uthappa on Sanju Samson’s role ahead of T20 World Cup 2024

Former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa recently came forward to urge the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and the Indian team management to give star Indian batter Sanju Samson a consistent run in the Indian team. There is no doubt that Samson has been one of the biggest prospects in world cricket for quite a few years now.

However, his chances with the Indian team have not been plentiful. With the 2024 T20 World Cup on the horizon, the Indian team will like to have a proper finisher in their hands, and Robin Uthappa opined that Sanju Samson could properly fill the role if he gets consistent chances. 

Despite batting up the order throughout his career, team India opted to send Samson down the order in the first T20I of the series against the West Indies. The 28-year-old looked to be in the flow in a finisher role, but the game eventually slipped as India lost by four runs.

Seeing his knock, Uthappa stated that it is important that Samson get the longer rope, and the more chances that he gets as a finisher, the more he will become comfortable in the role. 

"I am hopeful that considering the team management has decided to play Sanju Samson at No. 6 in T20I cricket, then it's important he gets a longer rope. If you are going to go into the World Cup with Sanju Samson playing a finisher's role, then it's important he understands the position well. The more he plays in that position, he would be able to understand it better," Robin Uthappa told JioCinema.

Samson hit one six and scored 12 runs in just as many deliveries in India’s unsuccessful run chase of 150 runs in the first T20I. He did form a good partnership with skipper Hardik Pandya, but it all crumbled when both batters were dismissed in the same over, and India eventually lost the game.