Sanju Samson’s batting transformation: Spin domination and six-hitting spree

There were two contrasting hundreds in the Rajasthan Royals-Royal Challengers Bengaluru game last weekend, but it was a half-century that caught the eye for more than one reason.

Samson’s 69 off 42 balls not only played a key role in RR reaching the target of 184 with plenty to spare, but also showed a new side of the captain’s batting – his improved prowess against spin. He has been found wanting against tweakers in the past, but in that game, took them down meticulously.

When left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar landed a length ball on the middle-stump line, Samson stood outside leg-stump and effortlessly chipped the ball over extra-cover for four. Anticipating a repeat, Dagar followed up with a quicker delivery that angled in sharply. Samson re-sent the ball to the extra-cover boundary for a flat six, by charging down the track, making room from a middle-stump guard and lofting the ball over the ring – all in one motion with a high backlift and fluid backswing.

Samson’s new-found strength against spin was born in the confines of the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. It was then that a wiry batter decided to add “muscle mass” to his frame, improving physically to boost his shots. Numbers seem to suggest that it has worked for the Kerala batsman, even though it may have come at the price of somewhat compromising his game against pace.

Samson against pace since 2017: The backlift has taken a significant upward movement over seven IPL seasons, with a progressing open stance shaping into a crouched position.(Express photo)

In the RR-RCB game, Samson began with diffident footwork against the faster bowlers. In his previous outing, the RR No.3 had lost his wicket to extra pace off the surface against Mumbai Indians’ Akash Madhwal’s skiddy length, as a tame dab away from the body dragged the ball onto the stumps.

RCB’s left-armer Reece Topley almost replicated the same with his first delivery – over the wicket and angled across, as Samson lowered his bat for an inside edge that whizzed past leg-stump. There was not much trouble afterwards, against either pace or spin, though Virat Kohli handed him a reprieve from an impulsive pull.

Spin takedown

From 2013 to 2019 in the IPL, Samson aggregated 854 runs in 63 innings against spin at a lowly strike rate of 122, averaging 28.46.

However, in the five seasons since, Samson has drastically improved his returns – 807 runs in 51 innings at a strike rate of 155.49 with a 50.43 average. Only four batsmen have scored more runs against tweakers since 2020, but none of them possess the combination of a 50-plus average and 150-plus strike rate. His RR teammate Buttler is the only other batsman to score over 500 runs with a 50-plus average and 150-plus strike rate in the period.

To buttress his game further, Samson has smacked over 100 sixes (103) in the IPL since 2020 – the only batter to reach the mark, ahead of Buttler (92).

“With a higher backlift, the backswing gets an even better relay to hit consistently through the line. That is evident in his game, especially against spinners as it gives him extra time to attack them. That swing has got better with this change that he has made over the last few years,” remarks Bijumon N, Samson’s coach from Thiruvananthapuram.

Samson against spin since 2017: The upright stance moves to a lower, crouched position as the backlift shapes upward across seven years.

Bijumon says Samson, a natural stroke-maker, decided to improve his power game to keep up with the dynamics of the evolving T20 game. “T20s are not what they used to be. The old 180s are now 200-plus scores. More sixes are being hit. The necessity now is to hit more boundaries and he has walked along that line to make this transition to power-hitting.”

Flip side

Samson’s technical overhaul hasn’t been an unmixed blessing. It may have also stopped him from having a blockbuster season on his profile that could have strengthened his case for a longer India stint.

While there is considerable improvement against spin, Samson’s returns against certain types of pace bowlers have gone down.

When Siraj sent in a well-directed bumper in Jaipur, Samson’s hook could not override the bounce as it found the fine-leg fielder. The Madhwal encounter was another instance when his backswing was perhaps not quick enough to play the cut with economic footwork.

Samson’s last appearance in India colours – a T20I against Afghanistan in Bengaluru in January – provides another telling example. He fell first ball, mistiming a pull against a left-arm pacer off a hard-length delivery.

Empirical data suggests that Samson is susceptible to hard lengths – the nagging area wedged between the good and short-length regions. His strike rate falls to 115 against hard length while being dismissed seven times in 83 deliveries – the most for him against any length since the 2022 season. Interestingly, anything fractionally shorter sees him scoring at a strike rate of over 200.

This could be due to the partial effect of a high backlift and the subsequent backswing that has hindered him against extra pace off the pitch, leaving him with less time to tackle deliveries on hard lengths.

Samson would believe that his refined methods would not hold him back from possibly sealing his maiden T20 World Cup berth, with surfaces in the West Indies and the USA likely to suit a batsman of his ilk.

However, heavy labour remains to be done in the IPL yard. With three big knocks to his tally, the Rajasthan skipper has reason to believe his tweaked technique can overshadow his vulnerabilities this time.