How time changes. Not too long ago, we were going on about Sanju Samson’s supreme talent, his hitting ability, and how finally he’s using the talent given to him by the almighty. Well, we are writing the obituary of his T20I career now. Five matches, that’s all it took. It’s not just the five matches, but rather the dismissals in these matches.
Sanju Samson vs short ball
The India vs. England T20I series is over for Sanju Samson. 51 runs, that’s all he made. Opening the batting, he faced just 43 balls across these five games. Of these 43, 29 were short-pitched deliveries, i.e., bouncers. Samson barely survived them. Every sixth delivery he faced, he was dismissed by the balls aim at his head.
| Matches | Balls | Runs | Out | Average | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 29 | 35 | 5 | 7.00 | 120.68 |
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Studied for Archer, Wood came out of Syllabus
By the fourth T20I, he was averaging less than five against them and struck at less than a run-a-ball. The India vs. England 5th T20I changed that a bit. Samson changed his stance against Jofra Archer and struck three boundaries (two sixes and one four) in the very first over.
It seemed that Samson had finally planned well and overcome his bouncer issue. That didn’t turn out to be the case. In the second over, Mark Wood bowled a chest-high short ball, and Samson once again holed out to the deep square fielder. As luck would have it, Archer was the one who caught the ball. The bowler who had dismissed him in the first three matches.
Sanju Samson’s T20I career over?
One fears that this could be the end of Samson’s career. When found out for their weakness against the short ball, not many survive international cricket. The wicketkeeper batter is already 30 and could very well be dropped for Team India’s next T20I series if either Shubman Gill or Yashasvi Jaiswal is available for selection.
