 "Sanju Samson is clean bowled by Matt Henry for a first-ball duck during the third T20I between India and New Zealand in Guwahati on Sunday, 25 January. AP")
India bowling coach Morne Morkel came to Sanju Samson’s defence on the eve of the fourth T20I against New Zealand in Visakhapatnam, backing the under-fire wicketkeeper-batter to regain his form in time ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Follow LIVE | IND vs NZ 4th T20 LIVE Score
Samson had returned to the top of the Indian T20I batting order recently after a few unsuccessful outings in the middle order, with the selectors discarding Shubman Gill as Abhishek Sharma’s opening partner despite naming him T20I vice-captain in September.
A sparkling 37 off 22 balls against South Africa in Ahmedabad last month was all it took for the Kerala keeper-batter to beat Gill to India’s squad for the T20I series against New Zealand as well as the T20 World Cup.
Samson, however, appears to have suddenly lost his touch after being included for the showpiece T20I tournament that gets underway on 7 February. The 31-year-old has scored just 16 runs in the three matches that have taken place so far in the ongoing series, getting bowled for golden duck by Matt Henry in Guwahati on Sunday.
Morkel backs Samson to regain ‘peak performance at the right time’
Morkel, however, believes Samson is “one knock away” from regaining his form, much like captain Suryakumar Yadav in the ongoing series.
Samson, additionally, was seen spending more than 30 minutes in the nets during an optional training session, facing a variety of bowlers including the likes of Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy.
Quick Reads
View All“Sanju is one knock away from getting that confidence, getting that form back. For us, building up to the World Cup it’s important for the guys to find that peak performance at the right time. He’s training well, he’s hitting the ball very well,” the former South Africa pacer told reporters at the ACA-VDCA Stadium on Wednesday.
“So, I think it’s just a matter of time for him to get his foot on the board. But the main focus is that the team is winning, and I think that’s important. We’re 3-0 up in this series at the moment, the boys are playing some very good cricket.
“We’ve got a couple of games now before the start of the World Cup, and I have no doubt that Sanju will find his form,” Morkel added.
Surya too had been going through a lean patch recently, having scored just 218 runs last year at an average and strike rate of 13.62 and 123.16 respectively. As for the current series, ‘SKY’ had scored 32 off 22 balls in the first T20I in Nagpur before returning to form with an unbeaten 82 in Raipur.
He had also remained unbeaten in the third T20I in Guwahati, smashing 57 runs as India chased down the 154-run target set by Mitchell Santner’s men with eight wickets and 10 overs to spare. Surya currently is the leading run-scorer in the five-match series with 171 runs at an average and strike rate of 171 and 201.17 respectively.
India, meanwhile, have already clinched the five-match series 3-0 with three clinical performances, having won by 48 runs and 7 wickets in Nagpur and Raipur respectively, and will now be setting their sights on a clean sweep ahead of their T20 World Cup title defence.