“Aisa laga jaise computer batting kar raha tha” - Rashid Latif heaps praise on Sanju Samson

Former Pakistan cricketer Rashid Latif has lauded the Indian opening batter Sanju Samson, who scored two consecutive match-winning fifty-plus scores in the virtual quarter-final against the West Indies and in the semi-final against England.

Speaking exclusively on the ‘Haarna Mana Hai’ show, Latif asserted that it looked like the computer was batting when Samson was in the middle, adding that he should emerge as the player of the tournament. Moreover, he credited the Indian team management for trusting Samson despite him being in poor form.

“Sanju Samson jis tarah se batting kia hai, aisa laga jaise computer batting kar raha tha. (The way Sanju Samson batted, it felt like a computer was batting). What spinner or what pacers. He got the momentum so fast especially after getting dropped by Harry Brook. and then he does the wicketkeeping in the match silently. We did not even get to know,” Latif said on the show Haarna Mana Hai.

“He is a fantastic composed player and the way he carried on the momentum in both the matches (against West Indies and England), in my eyes, Sanju Samson should be the player of the tournament. The way he has played cricket, we all have been astonished. And the credit goes to the Indian team management for trusting him even after his loss of form. And Sanju Samson has delivered with a punch,” he added.

On the other hand, the former Pakistan opening batter, Ahmed Shehzad, who was also part of the same show, has credited the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the exceptional infrastructure they have built, which is helping the team in the white-ball formats. 

“It was a very close match. Any team could have won it. I guess India benefits from the kind of infrastructure they have built. IPL and all prepare the players for such stages. It has benefitted them a lot. They way their players absorb pressure, it helps them to get past the crush moments. They were clear that on that kind of pitch, they had to get past 250 runs,” Ahmed Shehzad said.

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