“The challenge here is…” - Irfan Pathan reveals Sanju Samson’s challenge vs NZ

Former Indian all-rounder and commentator Irfan Pathan has revealed that the Indian opening batter Sanju Samson would be challenged by the in-form New Zealand pacer Matt Henry in the grand finale at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, March 8.

Speaking exclusively on his YouTube channel, Pathan stated that it would be an exciting contest between Samson and Henry. For the unversed, Henry dismissed Samson twice in the five-match T20I series between these two sides ahead of the showpiece event.

“Sanju has been dismissed by him twice, and his numbers against Henry are not very strong. From that perspective, this will be a very exciting contest. But my main focus will be on New Zealand’s field placements. It will be interesting to see what kind of field they set when Sanju Samson is batting,” Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube channel.

“Now the challenge here is that Sanju’s bat face stays slightly closed. Matt Henry might use the outswinger a lot. He bowls with a scrambled seam and brings the ball back in, and that could trouble Sanju, considering his technique. Because his bat tends to remain slightly closed,” he added.

“The good thing is that even though his bat stays closed, when the bat meets the ball the bat face becomes straight at the moment of contact. But sometimes, when you become very confident, you start applying too much force from the bottom hand. That should not happen with Sanju. That is something I will be watching closely,” he concluded.

India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.

New Zealand squad: Mitchell Santner (c), Finn Allen, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Cole McConchie.

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