'Time running out for Samson. He is getting opportunities but…': Ex-India batter identifies India's 'negative point'

Two games, two defeats. For the first time in 17 years, India is on the verge of a bilateral series defeat against West Indies (a minimum of 3-match series). The series that started out with the moniker 'Sab Jawaab milenge' (All answers will be provided), has produced more questions instead. What will India's World Cup 2023 squad be like? How long will the experiments continue? Are India's T20I set-up even ready for a life beyond Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli? These are some burning issues that have marred the team during their tour of the Caribbean.

Both defeats in the T20Is - by 4 runs in the first and 2 wickets in the second - have boiled down to batting frailties. In two matches now, India's batters have disappointed. Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya just haven't got going and India have paid the price for it. Also included in the list is Sanju Samson. Whenever Samson plays, he is backed by his huge fanbase. However, with each low score, that huge chunk of the fans who always get behind Samson, have gone quiet.

With scores of 9, 12 and 7, India expect better from Samson. His only sizeable contribution in the series – 51 in the 2nd ODI came in a losing cause, and given the 'inconsistent' tag Samson has dealt with throughout his career, the time to get rid of it is running out, feels Parthiv Patel. In fact, the former India wicketkeeper has included Samson in India's list of negatives on this tour and believes that if his numbers don't get better, Sanju's chances of cementing his place in the team will deteriorate.

"Every time India loses, we look at the negative points. Throughout the white-ball series, there has been talk about the need for batters to bat long and it is something that has been missing so far. Every time Samson is not in the squad, we talk about him, but he has not cashed in on the opportunities he has availed of so far. Probably time is running out for him, maybe yes or maybe no," Parthiv said on Cricbuzz.

Samson vs Tilak

Samson's returns have been a stark contrast to his teammate Tilak Varma, who has by far, looked the best of the lot. If Tilak impressed by cracking a sparkling 39 off 22 balls on his India debut, he took it up a notch higher and followed it with a brisk half-century in the second T20I. While insisting that Samson hasn't done justice to the chances provided to him, Parthiv praised the 21-year-old Tilak for his sublime touch.

"Samson has been getting a lot of opportunities, to be honest, he is just not making the most of the opportunities that he is getting. There was only one batter who looked comfortable and that was Tilak Varma," he added.