Can Sanju Samson fix technical flaws before T20 WC?
For over a decade, Sanju Samson has remained one of Indian cricket’s most fascinating contradictions — a batter of rare elegance and undeniable talent, yet one whose T20I career has been marked by puzzling inconsistency. His recent poor run — scores of 10, 6 and 0 — in first three games against New Zealand also paints a sorry picture.
His forgettable form becomes more stark when his nearest competitor Ishan Kishan’s midas touch has mesmerised the fans and pundits alike. There is a distinct difference between statistics and data and one often confuses the two as one. While the former gives a linear picture, the latter tries to get the trends by digging into the former.
In 55 T20Is in 11 years, Samson has managed 1048 runs at a strike-rate of 147 plus (average slightly irrelevant in T20Is metrics in modern day) with three fifties and three hundreds — two of which came on South African soil in late 2024. His strike-rate against Australia is 131, against England it drops to 118 and against New Zealand, it is 113.
Whenever Samson has opened since 2025, there has been some trends that have emerged. England sorted him out at the start of last year in five consecutive games bowling fast and short onto his body, forcing him to play a hurried pull-shot with no power or timing whatsoever. In 2026, Matt Henry (twice) and Kyle Jamieson, who both bowl in mid 130s, have bowled either straight lines or the leg-middle line not allowing him to open his arms on the off-side.
To understand the issues plaguing his batting, PTI spoke to former India opener WV Raman, one of the most distinguished voices in the country when it comes to batting technique and Rajasthan Royals High Performance Director Zubin Bharucha, who has closely worked with Samson.
“Sanju has a bit of problem both on technical and mindset front. The bat-speed on his downswing is the same for bowlers with different speeds. It will fetch him success against bowlers in the 130 kmph mark. “But anything above or less than 130 kmph mark with variations in pace either way, will create issue. The solution is to adjust his bat-speed on the downswing according to the pace of the ball.
Once he does that, he should be alright,” Raman said when asked about whether problem is of technical nature or it is the mindset. “On the mental front, he knows that there is a lot of competition for the wicketkeeper-batter’s slot in white ball cricket. That’s all probably putting pressure on him because he still has enough talent to work this out.
He is capable player and can deliver for India,” Raman said. However Raman doesn’t necessarily believe that slotting him in the middle-order could have disturbed his rhythm as players of this generation love walking the talk on being flexible. “In the T20Is, he is suited for top three and he shouldn’t have any issues on that front because that is where he can perform at his best. These days, these boys talk about adaptation and being able to bat anywhere.
“There shouldn’t be a problem unless you are sent extremely down the order,” Raman said. Samson is a confidence player. Few years back in a podcast, he had narrated an anecdote how when he was dismissed cheaply during a match, he quietly slipped out of the stadium and sulked on the Marine Drive.
For Bharucha, who has worked with all the young Rajasthan Royals players, including Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Dhruv Jurel, it is more to do with things happening in the space between the two ears. “There is nothing technical at all. It’s all in the mind for him. He oscillates from mercurial to average because of lack of clarity but it happens with everyone.
“Every player that’s played the game goes through this, he is no exception — Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) just recently. It’s just a matter of learning to manage it better,” feels Bharucha, who has extensive research on finer technical aspects of batting.
Ravichandran Ashwin recently explained how New Zealand attacking him with straighter lines while England bowled short and fast. “In such situation, it’s just about hitting a few more balls in areas you feel might be weaker than your strength. He has been scoring a lot more runs on the off-side than on-side, deliberately,” Bharucha said.
“This is what all batters do, making the bowler bowl an off stump line but get into positions to score from that line. Now this immediately prompts the bowler to compensate and come inside (middle and leg) and from that position it should be easier and less risky to hit into the on-side. “Sometimes when you overly set-up to open up the off-side, you can be a little out of position for the leg-side.
