Sanju Samson’s poor record against England in the T20 World Cup semi-finals is a matter of concern for India. Pacer Joffra Archer has dismissed him 3 times in 5 innings. Fans hope that he will maintain his form of 97 runs against West Indies.
Mumbai: Team India is ready to face England in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup. But before this big match, a new tension has arisen for the team and fans. This tension is related to opener Sanju Samson, whose record against England is not special. Even though Sanju played a stormy innings of 97 runs in the last match against West Indies, it will be a big challenge for him to face the balls of English paceman Joffra Archer at the Wankhede Stadium.
Sanju Samson has been helpless in front of Joffra Archer.
England fast bowler Joffra Archer is one of those bowlers who has troubled Sanju Samson the most. If we look at the statistics, Archer has clear dominance over Sanju. Sanju has been out three times in the five innings played against Archer. In front of Archer, Sanju’s batting average is only 8.33. Out of 23 balls thrown by Archer, Sanju could not score a single run on 13 balls.
The England team has made a plan to trap Sanju through short balls by taking advantage of the extra bounce available on the Wankhede pitch. Similarly, Sam Curran has also dismissed Sanju twice in IPL. Sanju may have excelled against other teams, but his record against England is lackluster. He has been able to score only 51 runs in five innings. Last year, in the five-match T20 series against England, Sanju scored 26, 5, 3, 1 and 16 runs. Sanju’s batting average against England is 10.20 and strike rate is only 118.60.
Considering Sanju’s weakness with the short ball, the England team is considering including another fast bowler. According to reports, Josh Tong can debut in the team. Earlier, pacers like Saqib Mahmood and Mark Wood have also taken the wicket of Sanju on short balls.
Sanju’s average against Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka is also less than 15. But fans are hopeful that he will continue the form he showed against West Indies against England as well. If Sanju repeats Kolkata’s aggressive game at Wankhede, then the path to the final will become easier for India.
Team India trusts Sanju
Team India had a bad start while chasing the difficult target of 196 runs against West Indies in the ‘do or die’ match of Super-8. Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan were out after scoring 10 runs each, while captain Suryakumar Yadav also could not play a big innings. In such difficult times, Sanju Samson made the team win by scoring unbeaten 97 runs in just 50 balls with 4 balls remaining. Now the fans of Team India are praying that Sanju maintains the same form in the semi-finals also.