Samson’s inconsistency raises questions in India’s T20I setup

Sanju Samson’s T20I struggles continue, with recent failures against New Zealand highlighting his inconsistency. Experts WV Raman and Zubin Bharucha believe his issues are both technical and mental, stressing adjustments in bat-speed and clarity of mindset to unlock his potential

New Delhi: 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 the first three games against New Zealand — paints a sorry picture.

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His forgettable form becomes more stark when his nearest competitor Ishan Kishan’s golden touch has mesmerised fans and pundits alike.

In 55 T20Is over 11 years, Samson has managed 1048 runs at a strike-rate of 147, 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, certain trends have emerged. England sorted him out at the start of last year in five consecutive games, bowling fast and short onto his body and forcing him into hurried pull-shots with little timing. In 2026, Matt Henry and Kyle Jamieson bowled straight or leg-middle lines, not allowing him to free his arms on the off-side.

To understand the issues plaguing his batting, PTI spoke to former India opener WV Raman 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 with variations in pace will create issues. The solution is to adjust his bat-speed on the downswing according to the pace of the ball,” Raman said.

“On the mental front, he knows there is a lot of competition for the wicketkeeper-batter’s slot in white-ball cricket. That is probably putting pressure on him because he still has enough talent to work this out. He is a capable player and can deliver for India,” Raman added.

Raman also said Samson is best suited for the top three in T20Is and should not face problems unless pushed too far down the order.

Samson is known to be a confidence player. In a podcast a few years ago, he narrated how after being dismissed cheaply in a match, he quietly slipped out of the stadium and sulked on Marine Drive.

For Bharucha, Samson’s struggles are more mental than technical. “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 goes through this — Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) just recently. It’s just a matter of learning to manage it better,” Bharucha said.

He explained that Samson has been scoring more on the off-side deliberately, trying to manipulate bowlers into changing their line. “Sometimes when you overly set up to open the off-side, you can be a little out of position for the leg-side. Just requires a little more awareness because Samson already has the on-side shots,” Bharucha said.

Asked about the solution, Bharucha replied: “Hit a few more balls in that area during practice. Ideally, constantly get the throwdown expert to move from the off stump line to the leg stump line.”