India, Sept. 20 -- Batting great Sunil Gavaskar heaped praise on Team India wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson for his half-century against Oman on Friday in the Asia Cup group stage match. Samson, who didn't get a chance to bat in the UAE and Pakistan matches, was promoted to number 3 to get some batting time in the middle ahead of the Super 4 stage. The wicketkeeper batter scored 56 runs off 45 balls, which was embellished with three fours and as many sixes as India managed to post a challenging 188/8 in 20 overs.

However, his strike rate of 124.44, which came under the scanner, but Gavaskar was highly impressed with him as he grabbed the opportunity and scored a crucial fifty.

"He batted extremely well. He needed to bat for long, and t...