No way that I am going to stand here and critique Sanju Samson's play of the short ball: Kevin Pietersen
"I think he plays the short ball extremely well," said Pietersen.
The Indian team is currently playing the five-match T20I series against England and is leading it by a margin of 2-1 with two matches left which will be played in Pune and Mumbai respectively.
There has been a lot of criticism directed towards the Indian team after they lost the third T20I in Rajkot. One of the players who has been criticised a lot for his failures in this series is Sanju Samson who has only managed to score 34 runs in the three matches he has played, averaging just 11.33 and has a strike rate of 103.3 so far. Experts are criticising his technique against the short ball. However, former English cricketer Kevin Pietersen instead praised the wicketkeeper-batter’s technique, adding that things like this happen in the game.
“I think mentally he's sound. I really like Sanju Samson as a batter. I actually love him. I was pretty surprised that he hasn't had more of a consistent role over the last few years. Yes, he's got a game here at the top of the order, but listen, these things happen. Things happen so quickly in the shortest form of the game," said Pietersen as quoted by India Today.
“If he keeps doing it over the next six weeks or he, does it over the next couple of months, then I'd probably have a look at it and start to question his technique. But I think that he's a fabulous player. I think he plays the short ball extremely well, and I just think he's a rock-solid player. So, from that standpoint, there's no way that I'm going to stand here and critique his play of the short ball," Pietersen added.
Speaking of the series, India will be playing their next game at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Friday, January 31. This will be another do-or-die game for the England team while the Indian team would look to win the game and win another series at home.
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