Former India batter Hanuma Vihari called out Team India star Sanju Samson for his technique after the fifth T20I against New Zealand. India lost by seven wickets as the series ended 3-2 in their favour. In the fifth T20I, India batted first and scored 191/8 and New Zealand chased it down in just 18 overs as well.

“I think India losing the toss made a difference. The ball was moving off the pitch initially. Abhishek was early into the shot. He was hasty and it hit the bottom of his bat. At Hamilton, the breeze also helped, and Adam Milne made use of that initial swing. Samson also stays deep in the crease and lets the ball swing. He should not have tried to play across the line,” the former SRH batter said in a video on his YouTube channel.

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“It was a rare failure for Abhishek. Sanju was inconsistent in this series. Again, there were some failures. They played Varun in place of Axar. He was okay in the first two overs, but Phillips targeted him. He was bowling at the same pace, and when there is no turn off the surface, he gets slightly exposed,” he further added.

Meanwhile, Hanuma Vihari also opined on some positives for Team India from the T20I series. He added that Abhishek Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, and Naman Dhir were good with the bat as well.

“What are the positives for India? I think Abhishek was one. Shreyas Iyer the batter. Tilak was outstanding under pressure. Nitish had an average series, not an excellent one, but he was decent. Naman Dhir was good. In bowling, I thought Prince was decent. Mayank was decent. Arshdeep did well in bits and pieces. Vaibhav also got a 40 in one match. Vaibhav is getting there. In the chances he gets, he is doing well. There is no harm in waiting,” he concluded.