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Former India batter Aakash Chopra has revealed a concerning stat surrounding wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson's batting against express pace bowling. He pointed out how Samson's performances have been bang average against pacy, especually short-pitched, balls. Samson was dismissed by England pacer Jofra Archer in the first two T20Is of the ongoing five-match series. While highlighting his mode of dismissals, Chopra suggested that Samson has not only struggled to score runs he has also failed to preserve his wicket while facing express pace.
"Abhishek Sharma got out. He scored runs in the last match. So we won't talk a lot about him. Our stats team came out with a stat on how Sanju Samson has performed when the ball's speed is more than 140 kph. His performance has been extremely ordinary. He hasn't scored runs and has lost his wicket as well," Chopra said his YouTube channel.
Chopra also reckoned that Samson's struggles against express pace become an area of concern for the batter.
"His strike rate is very low. He is going deep inside the crease and going a little towards square leg. The bowlers are bowling bouncers and laying a trap by keeping a fielder in the deep. He has been caught in the deep twice in two matches. It is just a talking point right now," he added.
"He has scored three centuries if we see the five matches before this series. The story of centuries and ducks was ongoing, which is okay, but if this is his response to serious pace bowling, if you remove that 22-run over of Gus Atkinson (in the first T20I) since you want to improve, you will realize he hasn't scored too many runs, and he is having problems against pace and bouncers," Chopra elaborated.
Samson has registered scores of 26 and five in the first two T20Is. The third T20I will be played on January 28 in Rajkot, with India leading 2-0 in the series.