India legend Sunil Gavaskar has revealed the reason behind Sanju Samson's ongoing struggle with the bat, which continued in the T20 World Cup encounter against Namibia.
Sanju Samson delivered an explosive but brief performance against Namibia in India's Group A match of the T20 World Cup 2026 in Delhi on February 12.
Making his T20 World Cup debut as an opener in place of the ill Abhishek Sharma, Samson raced to 22 runs off just 8 balls at a strike rate of 275.
He began cautiously with three dots but launched into attack: a massive six down the ground off the first over, followed by back-to-back sixes and a four over extra cover in the second over against Ben Shikongo.
All his runs came via boundaries- 1 four and 3 sixes-showcasing aggressive intent
and clean hitting. However, he fell in the final ball of the second over, chipping a slower delivery tamely to deep mid-wicket.
While his cameo boosted India's powerplay, critics noted he squandered a golden chance to build a bigger innings against a weaker attack. Inconsistency has been Sanju's biggest issue and former India player Sunil Gavaskar pinpointed the exact issue which is troubling Samson.
After Sanju Samson, Rajasthan Royals appoint their next leader for IPL 2026
"Sanju Samson has a technical problem. He goes too deep in the crease and plays that flick shot. You can only hope he times it in the gap or it goes for a six. He needs to make improvements, especially when he opens against the new ball. Namibia were clever with their field placements. They set a field to get Samson out. But it was good that he hit some nice shots. That must have given him some confidence. If he plays the next match against Pakistan, he needs to spend more time at the crease," Gavaskar said while speaking to Star Sports after the Namibia match.
Abhishek Sharma's stomach issue gave Samson the unexpected opportunity and the Kerala player failed to make the most of it.
/images/ppid_59c68470-image-177096253783524559.webp)








/images/ppid_59c68470-image-17709626287392285.webp)
/images/ppid_59c68470-image-177096260145649473.webp)