'Neither Ravi nor Virat thought of this. That's where I saw a captain': Sridhar recalls epic Samson moment in AUS win
Former India coach R Sridhar revealed that it was neither then head coach Ravi Shastri nor Virat Kohli's masterclass, but was rather the idea of Sanju Samson. Sridhar revealed that it was the moment he had seen a captain in Samson.
In December of 2020, India had pulled off a stunning win in a T20I match against Australia using the concussion substitute rule in the most tactical manner. Yuzvendra Chahal, with his three for 25, became the first concussion substitute to be named Player of the Match in an international match. He replaced Ravindra Jadeja, who scored an unbeaten 44 off 23 to help India set a target of 162. The swap at the break of innings had helped India win the match, but former India coach R Sridhar revealed that it was neither then head coach Ravi Shastri nor Virat Kohli's masterclass, but was rather the idea of Sanju Samson. Sridhar revealed that it was the moment he had seen a captain in Samson.
Jadeja had batted with a hamstring injury in the first T20I of the 2020 series against Australia. During the knock, one of Mitchell Starc's short-pitched delivery hit his helmet. There wasn't a concussion test carried out at that very moment, but India were left worried about Jadeja's participation in the rest of the match which left the team a bowler short.
In his book 'Coaching Beyond - My Days with the Indian Cricket Team', Sridhar revealed that just when Shastri and Kohli were going through their plans without Jadeja, Samson, who was seated next to him, came up with the idea of swapping Jadeja with Chahal as a like-for-like replacement via the concussion substitute role.
"I was in the dugout, ready to set up fielding stations immediately at the end of the innings before Australia could begin their chase. Seated by my side were Sanju Samson and Mayank Agarwal. Suddenly, Sanju piped up, 'Sir, the ball hit Jaddu's helmet, didn't it? Why can't we seek a concussion replacement? We can get another bowler in instead of Jaddu'," Sridhar writes in his book.
ICC approved of it, but then Australia head coach Justin Langer was visibly furious at the call as he was seen having a chat with match referee David Boon with captain Aaron Finch accompanying him.
"That is where I saw a captain in that youngster," he wrote. "I urged him to dash across to Ravi and convey his sentiments, and Ravi, too, saw merit in Sanju's thinking," Sridhar admitted.
"Sanju's quick thinking that led to Chahal's induction is an incident that will stay with me for life. That's where you saw a captain in Sanju, you saw a leader who was thinking about the game. He was not thinking about how he got out, he was thinking for the team. These are the moments that reveal one's character."
"This was a classic case of reverse learning. Neither Ravi nor Virat thought of this scenario; Sanju summed things up in a jiffy and wasn't afraid to communicate his thoughts. That's a big tick as far as I am concerned," Sridhar added.
