Samson, however, is yet to replicate his success in the IPL with the national team; in his defence, the Kerala-born batter never had a consistent run of games for India as well. Following the emergence of Dinesh Karthik during IPL 2023, Samson was sidelined in the Indian T20I squad and even as Rishabh Pant was forced away from action due to a severe car crash in December last year, left-handed batter Ishan Kishan took his place in the side.

Also read: ‘Great that money has come. But…’: Ganguly’s huge ‘that’s what he will be remembered for’ ultimatum to Hardik

Many fans and former cricketers have spoken in detail about the need to back Samson and now, his Rajasthan Royals teammate and leading India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also addressed the concern on his official YouTube channel. At the start of the video, Ashwin spoke about the growing comments from fans on Sanju Samson’s situation in the international setup, and had a rather forthright response before inviting Prasanna Agoram to share his views on the same.

“We received many comments. Anyway, Wasim Jaffer has mentioned that we are backing many players, and in the same way, we should start trying Sanju Samson also. Even the fans are asking for his comeback. You are asking to back everyone. Why don’t we back Sanju Samson enough?” Ashwin said.

“I am not here to tell who should be backed or anything. I want India to win the World Cup. We should give all the positive vibes for that to happen. That is my thought process,” said the India off-spinner.

Prasanna, former performance analyst for South Africa, was also a part of the video and he made a case defending Samson. The RR captain has played for India in 17 T20Is so far, and has made 11 ODI appearances for the side.