Sanju Samson silences critics with blistering 57 vs Afghanistan: Stats
What's the story
Indian opener Sanju Samson has silenced his critics with a blistering knock of 57 off just 22 balls in the second T20I against Afghanistan. The innings, which included seven fours and four sixes, helped India chase down a target of 160 with ease in New Delhi. This performance comes after calls for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's inclusion in the playing XI due to Samson's underwhelming performance in the series opener.
Game plan
A look at match summary
Chasing 160 in the second game, India were off to a flier.
Samson and Abhishek Sharma (39) gave a blazing start in the power play, adding 88 runs off just 38 balls.
Though both Indian openers were dismissed by Rashid Khan in the same over, India cruised to a seven-wicket victory with 31 balls remaining.
Samson, who was dismissed for just 10 runs in the opener, got to his fifty off just 20 balls.
Career trajectory
Samson was rested for the Zimbabwe tour
Samson made a comeback into the squad for the Afghanistan series and Asian Games after being rested for the Zimbabwe tour.
He had an unimpressive UK tour, scoring low in three matches, which led to his exclusion from the team and Sooryavanshi getting a chance.
However, when Sooryavanshi also failed to perform well, Samson was included in the fifth T20I against England but was rested for the Zimbabwe tour.
Achievements
Samson joins these names
With his latest knock, Samson became the fifth player to complete 1,000 runs as an opener for India in T20Is.
1000-plus runs as an opener for IND in T20Is
3,750 - Rohit Sharma (SR: 143.02).
1,826 - KL Rahul (SR: 136.98).
1,759 - Shikhar Dhawan (SR: 126.36).
1,726 - Abhishek Sharma (SR: 191.56).
1,026 - Sanju Samson (SR: 181.59).
T20Is
Here are his T20I stats
As per Cricinfo, this was Samson's seventh fifty across 68 T20Is, as he also owns three tons.
He has now completed 1,499 runs at an average of 27.25 and a strike rate of 158.12.
His previous two T20Is against the Afghan team resulted in just 10 runs combined.
Overall, in T20 cricket, the keeper-batter now owns 8,977 runs across 350 matches at 30-plus (100s: 8, 50s: 56).