Watch: Maheesh Theekshana bamboozles Sanju Samson with a peach as batter fails after replacing Shubman Gill in India XI

The 29-year-old India National Cricket Team wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson failed to perform with the bat in the second T20I of the three-match series against the Charith Asalanka-led Sri Lanka National Cricket Team at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele on Sunday, July 28.

Sanju Samson wasn't the first-choice player of the Indian team in the T20I series against Sri Lanka despite the fans expecting him to get a longer rope under the new regime of Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav.

Samson was not included in the playing XI in the first T20I and Riyan Parag was preferred over him as India won that game comprehensively by 43 runs.

However, Sanju Samson was slotted back into the playing XI in the second game due to the unavailability of the vice-captain of the team - Shubman Gill. At the toss, Suryakumar Yadav revealed that the star opening batsman woke up with a neck spasm, and hence, he was replaced by Sanju Samson in the line-up.

The star wicketkeeper-batsman was also given the opening spot of Gill and he came out to bat with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Just after 3 balls in the Indian innings, rain interrupted the play. After a long delay when the game restarted, the playing conditions were revised. India were given the target of 78 runs to chase in 8 overs.

Many expected Sanju Samson to set the stage on fire as the match game was at a stage where he needed to play his natural aggressive game. However, the wicketkeeper-batsman once again disappointed his fans.

On the first ball of the 2nd over, Sri Lanka spinner Maheesh Theekshana came to bowl and castled Sanju Samson. The spinner bowled a carrom ball that kept drifting in. Samson didn't move his feet and looked to defend it, which led to him leaving a gap through which the ball sneaked and hit the middle stump.

Sanju Samson was cleaned up for a golden duck and once again faced a heavy backlash online with the fans asking for his instant removal from the playing XI. With his failure in the match, Samson is highly likely to lose his place in the playing XI in the last match of the series.

Watch: Sanju Samson Fails As He Gets Castled For A Golden Duck

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Overall, Sanju Samson has played 29 T20I matches for the India National Cricket Team. In those matches, the Kerala star has scored 444 runs at a poor average of 20.18 and a strike rate of 132.93. Also, he has scored just 2 fifties for the side in the shortest format of the game.

Talking about the match, the Indian team easily completed the run-chase and won the match by 7 wickets. With this win, the Men In Blue also took an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series. This was the first series victory of Gautam Gambhir as the head coach of the Indian team and he would be looking forward to carrying this winning momentum.