Sanju Samson’s struggles continued in the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand as the wicketkeeper-batter once again failed to convert a promising start into a meaningful contribution. Samson looked fluent early on but was dismissed for 24 off 15 balls, adding another modest score to his tally in a series where runs have been hard to come by for him. With Ishan Kishan showing encouraging intent earlier in the series while batting at No. 3, the pressure is steadily mounting on Samson to justify his place in the XI.

Sanju Samson was bowled for 24 by Mitchell Santner. (AFP)Sanju Samson was bowled for 24 by Mitchell Santner. (AFP)

During the fourth T20I at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, Samson walked in at a tense moment with India losing Abhishek Sharma and skipper Suryakumar Yadav early in a daunting 216-run chase. He briefly helped steady the innings, striking three crisp boundaries and a six to ease the pressure. However, just as he appeared to be settling in, Samson was undone by New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner, who bowled him with a delivery that sneaked through.

Batting great Sunil Gavaskar, on commentary at the time, pointed out that Samson barely used his feet against Santner, leaving his stumps exposed and ultimately paying the price for the lapse.

The former India captain dissected the moment Samson was bowled, stressing how the lack of movement and static footwork left the batter vulnerable against spin.

“My first impression is that there was no footwork at all. Not very sure whether there was any turn. First impression was he was just standing there making room and playing through the offside,” Gavaskar said on commentary.

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Sunil Gavaskar exposes Sanju Samson’s flaw

After watching the replay, Gavaskar continued his sharp critique by expanding on the same technical lapse, pointing out how Samson’s repeated lack of footwork only worsened the situation. The batting great explained how moving outside the leg stump ended up exposing the stumps, a risk that ultimately caught up with the Indian batter once again.

“Like I said, hardly any movement of the feet. Going outside leg-stump, once again exposing all three stumps and when you miss, the bowler’s gonna hit, and that’s what happened to Sanju Samson the second time around,” Gavaskar added.