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India opener Sanju Samson has been brought back into the starting XI as the selection committee plans to drop Shubman Gill following his poor performance in the shortest of games. However, Samson also caused a lot of trouble for India. series Against New Zealand, this marks the final preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
India lost the first match of the T20I series yesterday in Visakhapatnam. India experienced a bittersweet moment in the ODI series as the Black Caps defeated the Men in Blue 2-1 after consecutive defeats in Rajkot and Indore.
Heading into the T20I series, the head coach’s morale has been boosted as Suryakumar Yadav led the Men in Blue to another series win. The captain personally commanded from the front line, Abhishek SharmaJasprit Bumrah, Ardeep SinghLinku Singh and Ishan Kishan Everyone gave their best.
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Tri-State Samson fail again; set off after a good start in fourth T20I against New Zealand
India wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson has been on the bench for most of the tour of Australia and the T20I series in South Africa. However, the right-handed batsman made a comeback in the final match of the series in South Africa.
Shubman Gill scored just 291 runs in 15 T20I innings and Samson was tipped to be India’s opener in the ICC T20 World Cup; however, the wicketkeeper failed to live up to the selectors’ belief. He was overwhelmed by the pressure and there were obvious flaws in his batting style.
As the World Cup approaches, Samson has scored 10, 6, 0 and 24 in four matches against New Zealand. After a promising start against New Zealand in Visakhapatnam, he was dismissed at a crucial moment of the game, leaving the team in trouble.
Sunil Gavaskar reveals Sanju Samson’s biggest flaw
Tri-State Samson’s weaknesses are also now public knowledge. In the first game, he tried to bowl a short delivery but was bowled straight away, before his wide stance and lack of footwork led to him being cleared by the New Zealand bowlers who were targeting just three stumps.
Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar, who commentates during Sanju Samson’s match in Visakhapatnam, also made the same point. He barely moved his feet, exposing three stumps to Mitchell Santner, who rattled his stumps.
“My first impression was that there was no footwork at all. Not really sure if there was any turning. The first impression was that he was just standing there making space and playing through the offside,” Gavaskar said in his commentary.
Gavaskar also pointed out that Samson was too premeditated in his choice of shots. He wired the bowler almost before he reached the crease and due to this, the bowlers dismissed him easily.
“Like I said, there was hardly any movement of the feet. Going outside the leg stump, again exposing all three stumps, when you miss, the bowler hits and that’s what happened to Sanju Samson the second time,” Gavaskar added.
New Zealand hand India first defeat of series in Visakhapatnam
India have been unbeatable in this series so far. However, after a good opening partnership in which the New Zealanders scored a total of 215 runs, the Indians had to play catch-up with only six specialist batsmen.
Two in-form batsmen Abhishek Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav were dismissed early while Ishan Kishan was not included in the starting XI for this match. A brief partnership between Sanju Samson and Rinku Singh helped them finish off the powerplay, but Samson was dismissed by Santner soon thereafter.
The lanky left-hand batsman Shivam Dube has shown some promising batting form. He remained unbeaten with a promising card in the second T20I victory in Raipur and then scored a brilliant 23-ball 65 in Visakhapatnam. His innings was over when wickets kept falling from the other end.
Dube jumped the fence with ease and never looked like he was in the mood to give up the chase easily. However, he only faltered once, with Matt Henry quickly seizing the opportunity to blast him away. It marked the end of India’s hopes and New Zealand won the first game of the series by 50 runs.
