Sanju Samson's Thiruvananthapuram homecoming goes awry; horror show continues: ‘Someone grab hold of him’

Sanju Samson's homecoming to Thiruvananthapuram was far from ideal as the right-hander managed just 6 runs off 6 balls.

Sanju Samson's homecoming at Thiruvananthapuram did not go according to plan, and the pressure is now firmly on the right-hander ahead of the upcoming Men's T20 World Cup. The 31-year-old, who has been woefully out of form in the series against New Zealand, failed to set the stage on fire in the final T20I at Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, managing just six runs off six balls. His painful stay at the crease was ended by Lockie Ferguson as the Kerala batter's technique stood exposed in front of a sold-out venue.

Sanju Samson's homecoming to Thiruvananthapuram was far from ideal (PTI)

Samson has now returned with scores of 10, 6, 0, 24 and 6 in the five T20Is against the Black Caps, aggregating just 46 runs. Following the batter's dismissal, former New Zealand wicketkeeper Ian Smith showed no mercy as he tore into Samson's technique, saying someone needs to “grab hold of him.”

“This is all about technique. If you want to go out and play leg side of the ball all the time, all the time. If you want to open yourself up, then you're opening up both edges of the bat. This is, look at his back foot, goes back to the leg stump, so you can see the leg stump,” Smith said on air.

“And then it just becomes guesswork, really. There's no technique, solid technique in there as well. Someone's got to grab hold of him and say, ‘That is not going to be successful for you.’ And we've got five now, five pieces of evidence for you in this series alone,” he added.

Speaking about Samson's dismissal, he looked for a lofted shot of a fullish delivery. He went deep in his crease but only managed to get a thick outside edge off Lockie Ferguson's delivery, and the ball flew behind square, and Bevon Jacobs completed a simple catch. As soon as Samson was dismissed, the crowd was stunned into silence as the home town hero failed to leave a mark.

Pressure well and truly on Samson

Ahead of the fifth T20I against the Kiwis, India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak expressed faith in Samson, saying the batter has been doing a good job and the task of the support staff is to keep him in solid head pace. However, he did agree that Samson hasn't gotten many runs.

Making the case difficult for Samson is Ishan Kishan, who has been playing well at No.3 as a replacement for Tilak Varma. There is now a growing argument towards playing Kishan as an opener alongside Abhishek and keeping Sanju on the bench.

Speaking of the final T20I, India captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to bat first. The skipper said that he wants to challenge his side ahead of the World Cup, as bowling with a wet ball would come as a welcome challenge.