An old picture of Sanju Samson training in nets (Source: @Saabir_Saabu01/X.com)
Sanju Samson arrived at the Saurashtra Cricket Association ground here on Monday long before the rest of his India teammates turned up for practice ahead of the third T20I against England. Samson, who was dismissed by England quick Jofra Archer with a short ball in the first two games, had new batting batting coach Sitanshu Kotak and throw-down specialists for company.
Sanju Trains Hard Before 3rd T20I
Samson batted for around 45 minutes on a cemented pitch where he was fed plastic balls for the pull and hook. Kotak was seen having frequent exchanges with the batter. He mostly negotiated the rising ball along with an odd full ball sent by the throw-down specialists. Besides the pull and hook, Samson practiced the ramp and the cut. Such type of training was previously done by Pakistan players like Mohd. Rizwan, who batted extensively in nets with a plastic balls in order to face Shaheen Afridi.
The 'Archer And Wood' Threat
England pace duo of Archer and Mark Wood have posed a few problems for the opening duo of Samson and Abhishek Sharma with their pace and ability to find bounce.
After that extensive hit in the nets, Samson batted in the main square for another 30 minutes or so and the focus was again on the climbing ball. Samson had a dream series in late 2024 in South Africa where he smashed two hundreds in four T20Is. He had also slammed a century against Bangladesh in a home T20I last year.
After a long day at work on Monday, Sanju Samson will be backing himself to pass the England pace test in Rajkot on Tuesday.
[With PTI Inputs]