'The thought process was to get him out with that plan' - Irfan Pathan analyses technical flaw in Sanju Samson's batting

Sanju Samson's recent form has been a bit of a concern for the Indian team during their tour of the United Kingdom. The wicketkeeper-batter has registered scores of 5, 0, and 1, across the two T20Is in Ireland and the series opener against England on Wednesday, July 1.

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan highlighted a weakness in Sanju Samson's batting technique after he was dismissed by Saqib Mahmood in the first T20I against England at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street. The Kerala batter was caught brilliantly by Tom Banton at backward point. Samson's crisp but aerial dive would have found the fence had Banton not intervened with a dive to his right. Pathan said that by bowling outside the off-stump, bowlers can get the batter of 31-year-old Samson.

“You want to take the ball away from Sanju Samson. Even if you don’t take the ball away, you want to keep the line outside the off-stump because his bat face remains closed. When his bat face is closed and he tries to play on the off-side, the bat face opens up at times,” Pathan said on Jiohotstar.

“That’s why we have seen him getting out in the slips, caught behind, and behind square many times. The thought process was to get him out with that plan. The field was changed, the bowler bowled that line, a slightly shorter length was bowled, where the ball was stopping a little, and Sanju got out there,” Pathan elaborated.

Former India wicketkeeper Saba Karim opined that England did well to stop Samson from hitting aerial shots, which gets him going. The cricketer-turned-expert said that the lack of runs created pressure on Samson, and it eventually led to his dismissal. However, Karim backed the Pulluvila-born to bounce back strongly.

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“He got out to the seventh ball. On the six balls he had played before this, it seemed like either a big shot or a wicket was loading, and such phases come in Sanju’s career. If his wicket falls, it falls in the first 10 balls. If he comes out from that, he plays a very big knock. The length they bowled kept Sanju in check. He didn’t get the elevation or room to play shots,” the former India wicketkeeper-batter said.

“His go-to shot against seam bowlers is to hit over the infield. The England pace bowlers prevented that, and that’s why a little pressure was mounting on Sanju. This situation has come in Sanju Samson’s career many times. However, I expect that he will come out of here and play a big knock for sure,” he added.