Yesterday:
"Yes. Hope he does not turn out like his precedent" that was the response i heard from the other person.
I couldn't listen to the complete conversation as the guys had reached their destination and got off the bus which we were travelling.
One Year Ago:
Indian team completed their England tour with mixed results across three formats of the game, and in an interview with the Indian captain M.S Dhoni a question came up.
Why wasn't he given a chance?
"He is very young. He will have lot of opportunities in the future" Captain replied in his usual style.
Two days back:
Young Samson appointed as the new skipper of Kerala team.
Friend's thought:
There is every chance that Sanju Samson may appear in Blue jersey for his national side within the next three days. This is by far considered as the best chance for a player like Samson(should have said "best chance for Samson" alone) to remind the selectors that he is always available for playing squad whenever they are looking to bleed fresh blood .
Today:
The pessimist in me came out and was following my optimistic side which soon joined the conversation with me after dinner . I was half-sure about the outcomes of topic as usual
Pessimist: Do you think he will play tomorrow ?
Optimist: Of course, he will. As he(friend) mentioned this is by far the best chance for a debut for Samson.
Me: Yeah. Right. Rahane is the captain. His teammate in IPL. so i don't see a reason for the team playing without him.
Optimist- Yeah right buddy. you bet
Pessimist: Great. Do you think that he can perform well? On what grounds was he selected to the team? did he have a great IPL season? how good was his statistics in last Ranji season?
Me: Well not good enough. he had one 50+ score in this IPL season. I read that he has a double century to his account in last Ranji and a couple of good outings as well
Optimist: You can write him off by numbers but lets not forget that what all positions he played for the team in this season of IPL. Not so familiar slots like opening and No.5, 6 and 7 positions where his only role was to finish off games for the team. Why wasn't he given chance to play in England when he did justice to numbers as well?
Pessimist: In England, we had a long tour, remember last time, players were hit by injury and we had to send replacements in between. so we send a 17 member squad this time .And for IPL, if you are a successor of Dhoni this is just a training parade .if you can't do it in IPL how could he do it in international level.
Me: So the opening slot experiment.?
Pessimist: Well if you still don't know that Watson's absence and smith's success in No.3 position pushed him to that slot, better take rest. So he has to fit into any slot if the team asks .Don't you think so?
Me: Yeah i guess.so the finishing role is what he is supposed to do.
Optimist- Can't understand such a logic. since when did the custom of training finishers come into existence? Why are you drawing lines of comparison with Dhoni? Is it because he is a wicket keeper?
Me: Yeah. he will be leaving the game with a reputation level like never before. So his followers should take up similar job as well?
Optimist: Well is that case Dhoni was name as Indian reply to Gilchrist from Australia.He was a hard hitter. Cool head.. Later on he became Bevan from India and later became superior than Bevan according to many.
Pessimist; That's how you become when you play for Indian team. You just become next Sachins, next Dravids, Next Laxmans. you can't leave away the legacy of those easily.
Optimist: Well then, where is Pujara now. He was adjudged "Next Dravid" after 10 matches.
Me: So who was his primary version? Manjarekar, Wassim Jaffer ?????
Optimist: Stop nonsense. Why cant you treat players with their own identity? Why do Kohli have an identity on his own? can't that be applied to others as well.?
Pessimist: Well .He is a combined version of aggressive Ganguly, run-hunting Sachin, wrist-y Azhar........and....a couple more.
Me: Hundreds in run chase.... Anything abut that?
Pessimist: Yeah, a bit of Dhoni as well. Since he plays up the order he is able to score more centuries.
Optimist: Guys , our topic... Was Samson.
Pessimist: Well you can't change the custom. just to remind how good Dhoni was, as a finisher..World cup final... 92 from79 .. the biggest moment..
Optimist: What about Gautam gambhir who had 97 in thee same match and 75 in T20 final 2007.
Pessimist: we were talking about Samson. Right.... Lets not deviate.
Optimist: So you are coming to say that Samson needs to prove that he can fill into Dhoni's gloves.
Me: Within 2 matches!!!!
Pessimist: Yeah that's the chance he has to prove that he is worth a try . A weaker opposition is what he has to play against. consider that as well.
Optimist: So did Dhoni has his mettle proved in the first two matches??
Pessimist: There wasn't much of competition at that time.
Optimist: Great logic. He needs to show his nerves in no time. Awesome . what else does he needs to prove?
Pessimist: Of course , the lost pride of our state due to match fixing scandal. A new flag bearer, Even when barring the fixing scandal, the other guy's antics were total shame for us. Lets hope sanju is not that kind
Optimist: Is it proved that the guy is guilty?
Pessimist: No,but why would one get arrested for no reason.He is still a misfit though. too much aggressive,
Me: But Most Australian players are aggressive as well right?
Pessimist: Stop stupidity. they perform well.
Optimist: So what all roles should Samson fit into?
Pessimist left without a reply and optimist has nothing left to argue for. So he too left ...I was driven into confusion once again .
End Note:
Well Samson's numbers may not be there yet. Be it his age, or his career. One cannot certainly deny the fact that early exposure to international level can do good to his approach to the game.
Classifying the possibilities of his place in eleven after Zimbabwe series :
He may get a chance to continue in T20 side which gives him a responsibility to score big in domestic level and earn place in other formats
or
Even if left out of playing eleven in next few series', the experience of being there in the middle will urge him to come back with strong performances.
Well my pessimistic side has a few notes here as well. But i go with optimist this time and hoping for any of the above to happen.
Its not easy finding a player of his quality from our state. That too a batsman hailing from kerala.
Remembering the name "Balan Pandit" -who was considered as "Father of Kerala Cricket"in this moment.
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By the Way.......................Why was Samson made skipper of Kerala team?
Pessimist & Optimist: Don't pull us back, just to utter the word "Custom" . stupid...........
