Samson, Suryakumar squander best chance to push for World Cup spots

Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav: two batters with limitless white-ball potential. But they have had only limited opportunities in ODIs so far. Both Suryakumar and Samson had made their ODI debuts on a tour of Sri Lanka in 2021, when a number of seniors were in the UK for the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final and the following Test series against England. That white-ball series was a dry run for the 2021 T20 World Cup in Dubai.

Two years later, Suryakumar is a T20 phenom and Samson is the face of Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. But opportunities continue to be limited for them in ODIs. Since their debuts in Sri Lanka, they have played just six ODIs together over two years.

In the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who were both rested for the second ODI against West Indies, and with the series - and perhaps World Cup spots - at stake on Saturday, this was probably the best chance for both Samson and Suryakumar to push their cases. But both batters were part of a collapse that saw India being rolled over for 181 in 40.5 overs.

Sure, the Barbados pitch was a challenging one with the quicks causing some balls to burst from a length and the spinners finding grip and turn. But it wasn't Barbados of old where Joel Garner and Andy Robers had razed oppositions.

Jayden Seales is just working his way back from a knee surgery while Romario Shepherd might not have even played had Jason Holder been available for selection. And not too long ago, Gudakesh Motie was Akeal Hosein's understudy in ODIs. This West Indies side will not even be part of the upcoming World Cup. In such a scenario, India's team management would have expected Samson and Suryakumar - or at least one of them - to shepherd the batting line-up after Shubman Gill had holed out for 34 in the 17th over.

Samson walked out at the fall of Gill's wicket and watched Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya tumble at the other end. This brought Samson and Suryakumar, who funnily enough was wearing Samson's jersey, together in the middle. It could have been a potential World Cup selection shootout, but neither could repair India's innings. Their partnership lasted just one ball, with Samson nicking legspinner Yannic Cariah to Brandon King at slip for 9 off 19 balls.

Suryakumar then started in more promising fashion, driving Cariah behind point with the turn for four off the second ball he faced. With both Cariah and Motie extracting sharp turn and uneven bounce, Suryakumar shelved the sweep and tried to pick off runs on the off side. But he couldn't control a cut off Motie and lobbed it to backward point for 24 off 25 balls.

After West Indies chased down the target with six wickets to spare, India's stand-in captain Hardik Pandya expressed his displeasure at the overall batting performance. "We didn't bat the way we were supposed to," he said at the post-match presentation. "I think the wicket played pretty well and I don't think it was like the first game. I think barring Shubman, everyone played their shots, got out, and hit the fielders. Disappointing but at the same point of time many things to learn."

With West Indies forcing the series into a decider in Trinidad on Tuesday, India might not be able to create further room for experimentation. It is also hard to see India fiddling too much with their combination in the Asia Cup and the home ODIs against Australia, where the oppositions will be stiffer, in the lead-up to the World Cup.

Sizeable contributions from Suryakumar and Samson on a tricky track on Saturday could have earned them a bit more game-time over the coming weeks, but with Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul on the road to recovery, they could soon return to the bench once again. And if India do need them at some point during the World Cup, they might have to rock up cold.