“We all know what Sanju is capable of” - Indian team management backs under-performing Sanju Samson

Team India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak has defended the Indian opening batter Sanju Samson to hit back to good form in the fifth and final T20I against New Zealand, scheduled to be played on Saturday, January 31, in Thiruvananthapuram.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of the final T20I against the BlackCaps, Kotak believes there is little cause for concern with Samson as the team management has been completely backing the keeper-batter.

For the unversed, Samson could score only 24 runs in the fourth T20I as he lost his wicket to the opposition skipper, Mitchell Santner, as India suffered a 50-run loss. In his last five T20I innings, Samson’s highest score was only 37 runs against South Africa.

“Sanju is Sanju. Okay, probably he has not scored as many runs as everybody would have liked, but that’s part of the game. Sometimes you have five innings in a row when you score heavily, and sometimes you don’t,” Kotak said at the pre-match press conference.

“So it’s all down to the individual and how he keeps his mind strong, and obviously our job is to keep him in a good frame of mind and make sure he practises and works hard. We all know what Sanju is capable of, so I don’t think there’s anything more to say about Sanju, because he’s been really good,” he added.

In the ongoing New Zealand series, Samson has managed just 40 runs across four innings, while Ishan Kishan has continued to dominate at No. 3 in Tilak Varma’s absence. Since 2025, Samson managed to score only 128 runs from ten innings at an average of 12.8, with the highest score of 37 in the shortest format.

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