Faf du Plessis has exposed the weakness of Sanju Samson’s batting. According to him, short balls faster than 140 km/h are difficult for Sanju. England’s bowlers, especially Joffra Archer, can take advantage of this strategy in the semi-finals.
Mumbai: Sanju Samson is everywhere after scoring unbeaten 97 runs in the do-or-die match against West Indies. Sanju, who was out of the playing eleven at the beginning of the tournament, grabbed the opportunity with both hands and silenced the critics. But, just before the semi-final against England, former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has pointed out a weakness in Sanju’s batting.
Du Plessis believes that Sanju is very strong towards mid-wicket, but short balls with a speed of more than 140 kilometers per hour are a challenge for him. He said, “There is only one area of attack on Sanju and that is fast-paced short balls. Sanju’s bat-swing is amazing, so he plays the balls coming towards the body very well. But accurate short balls faster than 140 km/h are his ‘weakness’. The England team is aware of this and they know how to use it very well.”
Plan necessary to face Archer
Du Plessis gave the example of the match against Zimbabwe in the Super 8, where Sanju was out on a short ball from Blessing Muzarabani. He also reminded that Sanju will need a solid plan when facing fast bowlers like England’s Joffra Archer. Du Plessis said, “Sanju will know that short balls will be bowled at him. When Archer bowls such balls, Sanju will have to decide in advance how to defend them or score runs. He will have to decide whether to attack those balls or target other bowlers.”
After playing the ‘most important innings of his career’ against West Indies, Sanju is ready to face England with full confidence. Now fans are waiting to see how Sanju overcomes this challenge given by Du Plessis.
England’s ‘Brahmastra’ is ready to stop Sanju Samson
Sanju Samson, who played a stormy innings against West Indies, is now everyone’s target. There is a dangerous weapon waiting for Sanju in the England team – and that is fast bowler Joffra Archer. In the five-match T20 series against India last year, Archer took the wicket of Sanju thrice. The special thing is that most of the times Sanju was out on short balls only. In the same series, Saqib Mahmood and Mark Wood also sent Sanju to the pavilion on short balls.
For this reason, before the semi-finals, Sanju practiced batting extensively on short balls in the nets. Former player Cheteshwar Pujara has also warned that England and Archer will take advantage of this weakness of Sanju and make short balls their weapon. Pujara has advised that instead of playing shots down the leg side off Archer’s bowling, it would be better for Sanju to give strike to Abhishek Sharma. Now it remains to be seen whether Sanju overpowers Archer and his team on the Wankhede ground or gets trapped in England’s trap.