Sanju Samson targeted as Kevin Pietersen hails Shreyas Iyer for conquering short-ball weakness
Published - 14 Feb 2025, 09:33 PM | Updated - 14 Feb 2025, 11:36 PM
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England National Cricket Team batting great Kevin Pietersen took a sly dig at the India National Cricket Team star wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson while praising Shreyas Iyer for overcoming his short-ball weakness.
Kevin Pietersen reckoned that the game plan adopted by Shreyas Iyer to tackle the short balls was completely in contrast to the approach used by Sanju Samson in the recent series against England.
Shreyas Iyer shines while Sanju Samson fails vs England
Shreyas Iyer displayed a batting masterclass in the recently concluded ODI series against England. He was not originally planned to be in the starting XI, but an injury to Virat Kohli made way for him in the first ODI.
In the series opener, Shreyas Iyer impressed everyone with his quickfire fifty and forced the team management to retain him in the playing XI despite Virat Kohli's return and Yashasvi Jaiswal was dropped.
Iyer registered scores of 59, 44, and 78 in three matches and overall amassed 181 runs at an average of 60.33. The one thing that everyone noticed in the series was how well the middle-order batter tackled the short-ball threat. He was seen smashing the bouncers to the boundary and ruining the tactics of the Three Lions.
Sanju Samson, on the other hand, had a completely opposite series against England. In the five-match T20I series, which was played before the ODIs, Samson's weakness against the quick and short balls haunted him
England used the same short-ball tactic to dismiss him in all the matches and he registered the scores of 26, 5, 3, 1, and 16 - in what was his worst series since taking over the opening spot.
He was conscious in getting himself a little bit more time - Kevin Pietersen
Speaking on the Star Sports show 'Match Point,' Pietersen opined that the short-balls are no longer an issue for Shreyas Iyer. The England batting legend also talked about how his approach was completely different to Sanju Samson.
"Just cast your mind back a week. He wasn't supposed to play the first game, and he gave it away when we spoke to him at the end of the game because of how well he batted. The short ball didn't bother him at all. He played it beautifully," he said.
"He was conscious in getting himself a little bit more time. He stood back in his crease and got into great positions. So his trigger was all the way back to give himself that extra split second. What he did was in contrast to what Sanju Samson did in the T20s," Pietersen added.
Sanju Samson went back in straight lines, from leg stump to leg stump, means he gets a little bit stuck - Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen further explained why Samson had an extremely poor outing against short balls in the T20I series against England. He stated:
"Sanju Samson went back in straight lines, from leg stump to leg stump, means he gets a little bit stuck. If he goes back and you go into the rib cage, because he is only thinking of the off-side, it becomes a flap. That's why we saw him get out on some many occasions flapping, not in control of the pull shot."
The former England skipper added that Iyer's trigger has significantly gotten better, which allowed him to overcome his major weakness.
"Shreyas Iyer now goes back. His trigger is a lot better, gets him into line, which means anything straight, he has got way much more control. So he is not only committing himself on the off-side, he is committing himself on the leg side too. I think it's been a great ploy," he said.
