Former India player Aakash Chopra has expressed slight concern about Sanju Samson's batting against express pace. He pointed out that the wicketkeeper-batter has neither been able to score runs nor succeeded in preserving his wicket against pacy, especially short, deliveries.
England set India a 166-run target in the second T20I in Chennai on Saturday, January 25. Although Samson managed only five runs off seven deliveries and most other batters failed to fire, Tilak Varma's unbeaten 55-ball 72 helped the hosts register a two-wicket win with four deliveries to spare.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener opined that Samson's struggles against express pace could become an area of concern.
"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," he said (10:10).
"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," Chopra added.
The cricketer-turned-commentator reckoned the opener needs to respond better to pace and bounce.
"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.
Sanju Samson was caught in the deep while attempting to pull a pacy Jofra Archer delivery in the second T20I. He was dismissed almost identically by the same bowler in the series opener.
"The entire 2024 was not good and 2025 hasn't started well as a batter" - Aakash Chopra on Suryakumar Yadav
In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that Suryakumar Yadav's lean run continued in the second T20I against England.
"Suryakumar Yadav got a duck in the first match and was batting well in the second match, but then he got out again, and that's not a good story. The entire 2024 was not good and 2025 hasn't started well as a batter. However, if we compare Chennai and Kolkata, he looked better in Chennai," he said (11:15).
While lauding Tilak Varma for playing a match-winning knock, Aakash Chopra praised Washington Sundar for scoring a crucial 19-ball 26. The analyst concluded by picking Sanju Sanju's short-ball issues and Suryakumar Yadav's lack of runs as the batting concerns for India heading into the third T20I.
Follow IPL Auction 2025 Live Updates, News & Biddings at Sportskeeda. Get the fastest updates on Mega-Auction and cricket news