Former Indian cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra has reckoned that the opening batter Sanju Samson would be under pressure after failing to create an impact in the first T20I of the three-match series against Afghanistan on Sunday, September 13, in Delhi.
While Samson could score only 10 runs off eight deliveries in the 157-run chase, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is awaiting his chance, having warmed the bench after an exceptional series against Zimbabwe recently.
“I was focusing on only one guy, and that was Sanju Samson, because, thus far, we have been saying that a slight injustice has been done to him. You win the World Cup, and then you are left out after performing badly in two matches. However, he got out again. He was batting decently, but was caught in the deep,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“So one innings has gone bad, and the innings are getting counted. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is sitting outside. There is already a question now because you made Vaibhav sit out after doing well in Zimbabwe. I was in favor of playing Sanju, but the pressure will keep mounting because the pressure will be there until Vaibhav keeps sitting out,” he added.
Delving into the details of the first T20I, Afghanistan batted first and posted 156/8 in 20 overs. Azmatullah Omarzai was the top scorer with an unbeaten 64-run knock. In the chase, India crossed the winning line in 13.4 overs. Abhishek Sharma was the top scorer with an 82-run knock off 32 balls.
Notably, Sooryavanshi became the youngest player to score a T20I half-century during the series opener against Zimbabwe in Harare, smashing a rapid fifty off just 19-24 balls. Eventually, he signed off the three-match series with an 81-run knock off 49 balls, emerging as the player of the series for amassing 151 runs from three games at a strike rate of 196.1.
