Sanju Samson in action. (KCA photo)The downfall-shot kept playing on Sanju Samson’s mind. Hours after a doomed back cut off left-arm spinner Vicky Otswal nipped his strokeful half-century from blossoming into a hundred, he occasionally wandered out of the dug-out and rehearsed the stroke that terminated his innings of 54, off only 61 balls.
It’s his percentage stroke, one that had yielded him hundreds of runs. But here it was his kryptonite, when everything seemed gloriously sunny at the Greenfield Stadium and the stage set for him. It was a standard modern left-arm spinner’s ball. The ball simply came with the angle from a wide of the crease release, perhaps a smidgeon more quicker than he had judged.
Maybe, to nit-pick, not enough width was offered to cut. It was not the ideal length either, but Sanju is versed at cutting from even those narrow spaces. Maybe, he was a touch distracted after completing the half-century. A couple of balls ago, he attempted an expansive cover drive off Rajneesh Gurbani and clasped the breezy air. It was one of those strokes that was not hideous yet injudicious. Sanju and captain Mohammed Azharudeen had rescued Kerala out of choppy waters, lifted them from 75 for 4 to 132 for 5, with only 107 runs required to gain the first-innings lead, which is the lone stakes remaining in the game. An outright win for either team looks remote, more so as Maharashtra creamed 51 runs from 14 over, Prithvi Shaw reeling out seven fours, with more inclement weather predicted on Saturday.
Sanju Samson after scoring 50. (KCA)
It’s not to pin the entire blame of Kerala’s meltdown, handing a 20-run lead to Maharashtra after getting all out for 219, but his exit was a perceptible turning point of the game. The hosts were racing towards superiority, boundaries flowing from their willows, the seam movement defanged and the spin defanged. The Greenfield surface was neither batting friendly nor unfriendly. The variable bounce, sometimes wickedly so, and progressive aid for turn meant batting was not a stroll.
Only that it was easier for set batsmen to configure its devils. Besides, some of Kerala’s batsmen surrendered in meek ways. Like Baba Aparajith offering a leading edge to Jalaj Saxena on Day 2; or Sachin Baby edging down the leg-side; or Azhar getting out in identical fashion to Sanju, to the same bowler. Last year, in their run to the finals, the flimsiness of Kerala top three went unnoticed in the euphoria. But the same woes persists. Akshay Chandran has been enduring a horrid run of form; Rohan Kunnummal is gifted but inconsistent. B Aparajith has not reprised the form of his peak years. One day, they could all click in unison, but until then Kerala’s batting is dependent on individual sparkles.
In this backdrop, Sanju’s back-cut was a game-shaping moment of the match. It was one of those moments Sanju could have seized to accelerate his case for bursting into Tests, either as a specialist batsman or a wicket-keeper batsman. He has technical requisite but not the knack of converting starts to monstrous totals. Eleven hundreds and 17 half-centuries is not an admirable reflection of his talents or ambition. In 13 seasons, only twice has he racked up more than 500 runs; only thrice he has sustained an average of 50 or above in a full season. In the last 35 outings, he has mustered only a pair of hundreds. The Test dream is slowly retreating to the horizon of unfulfillment.
But here was a perfect stage to emphasise his worth. As on numerous instances, he looked in gorgeous touch. He soaked the early onslaught of pressure from the probing Rajneesh Gurbani, before he counterattacked with aplomb, racing to 30 in as many balls and reversing the pressure. When Maharashtra entrusted Jalaj Saxena to fox his old teammate, he dusted up the acquaintance with a thunderous six. Jalaj, who grabbed three wickets, was shelved off the attack. Sanju drove and slashed boundaries. He breezed through his forties with a delightful straight-drive and a waft over point. A tip-and-tap single, another feature of his innings, winked in his half-century. Until then, he barely looked troubled. But post his fifty, something snapped. He seemed in a hurry and perished.
Sanju Samson in action. (KCA)
Yet, the scattered spectators lingered. In the last couple of seasons, they have reconciled with watching Kerala without Sanju. He batted just once in Kerala’s historic march to the final, post a face-off with Kerala Cricket Association. Azhar was still at the crease and Salman Nizar, his heroics of last season etched in the state’s cricket folklore, walked out to the middle. But with the score on 141, Azhar perished. This season, there was no Jalal to script a lower-order defiance act. Ankit Sharma, his replacement, clung on for 45 balls, swelling Kerala’s hopes of eclipsing Maharashtra’s first innings compilation, but Jalaj’s natural variation induced a nick to the keeper.
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