IND vs BAN: Sanju Samson silences critics with 22-ball fifty in Hyderabad

India wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson slammed his third half century in T20Is in the third T20I against Bangladesh on Saturday, October 12 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.

Samson reached his landmark in just 22 balls as he got India off to a terrific start after losing his opening partner Abhishek Sharma early.

The right-handed batter clobbered eight fours and two sixes enroute to his landmark. Samson was under pressure coming into the game having registered scores of 29 (19) and 10 (7) in the first two matches. However, he got the backing of assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate ahead of the match who confirmed that Samson will be given another chance in the final game of the series.

The opener began his innings cautiously scoring just three runs off first five balls. However, he broke free in the second over of the match as he smacked Taskin Ahmed for four consecutive boundaries putting his wide array of strokes on display.

After launching an assault against Taskin, Samson got into the groove and further whacked Mustafizur for a boundary and a six in the fourth over to move into the 30s. The opener went 4,4,6 against Rishad Hossain in the seventh over to bring up his half century. Notably, he registered the fastest half century by an Indian vs Bangladesh.

Samson got the support of his captain Suryakumar Yadav at the other end as the duo posted India’s joint highest powerplay score of 82/1. One of his shots after his half century even left former India head coach Ravi Shastri in awe as he slammed Mustafizur Rahman over covers for a maximum.