'I'm a Sanju Samson fan, been that way for years now, (but) he's wasting good form by shot selection'
Former West Indies speedster Ian Bishop reckons Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson is wasting good form and opportunity to press for a recall in the Indian T20 set up by not playing impactful innings in the IPL.
The wicketkeeper-batter is still on the fringes of the Indian T20 team and a stellar show in the IPL could be help him stake a claim in the T20 World Cup squad.
"That Sanju is wasting good form and good opportunity to score runs to press for an international recall, to lead his team when Jos Buttler doesn't score," Bishop said on ESPNcricinfo's 'T20 Time Out'.
Although, Samson is a delight to watch when he gets going, the free-flowing right hander is yet to consistently play the kind of impactful innings one expects from him.
He last featured for India in the T20 home series against Sri Lanka in February.
With the flamboyant Jos Buttler failing against RCB on Tuesday, it was the perfect opportunity for the RR skipper to rise to the occasion. Samson even looked in good touch, smashing three sixes and a four but could only manage 27 off 21.
He was dismissed by Sri Lanka spinner Wanindu Hasaranga after missing an attempted reverse-sweep.
"It's not that Sanju's out of form. But that's a match-up with Wanindu Hasaranga and him, and he should have known better. He got out of the blocks quite nicely," Bishop said.
"I'm a Sanju Samson fan, been that way for years now, (but) he's wasting good form by shot selection," Bishop added.
Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori feels the game comes too "easy" to Samson and he thus tries to do too many things.
"It feels like the game is too easy for him, so 'I'm going to try something different, I'm going to try and make sure I can play every shot in the book'. He is at his best when he's striking down the ground," Vettori said.
"He's a joy to watch when he's playing that well. But everything looks a little bit easy and sometimes it feels like he isn't in the moment, and then he's out."
Apart from a 55 and an unbeaten 48 against Sunriers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals respectively, Samson has endured an underwhelming season.
