Sanju Samson’s homecoming at Thiruvananthapuram did not go according to plan, and the pressure is now firmly on the right-hander ahead of the upcoming Men’s T20 World Cup. The 31-year-old, who has been woefully out of form in the series against New Zealand, failed to set the stage on fire in the final T20I at Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, managing just six runs off six balls. His painful stay at the crease was ended by Lockie Ferguson as the Kerala batter’s technique stood exposed in front of a sold-out venue.
Samson has now returned with scores of 10, 6, 0, 24 and 6 in the five T20Is against the Black Caps, aggregating just 46 runs. Following the batter’s dismissal, former New Zealand wicketkeeper Ian Smith showed no mercy as he tore into Samson’s technique, saying someone needs to “grab hold of him.”
“This is all about technique. If you want to go out and play leg side of the ball all the time, all the time. If you want to open yourself up, then you’re opening up both edges of the bat. This is, look at his back foot, goes back to the leg stump, so you can see the leg stump,” Smith said on air.
“And then it just becomes guesswork, really. There’s no technique, solid technique in there as well. Someone’s got to grab hold of him and say, ‘That is not going to be successful for you.’ And we’ve got five now, five pieces of evidence for you in this series alone,” he added.
