In what was essentially a dead-rubber match in the fifth and final T20I between India and England on Sunday, February 2, visitors had elected to field first after winning the toss. India, already leading the series, came out with an aggressive intent, and Sanju Samson wasted no time in making an impact.

Facing Jofra Archer in the opening over, Samson hammered two sixes, racing to 16 runs and set the tone for an explosive start. But that promising innings was cut short in the next over as he went for a pull against a short-pitched delivery Mark Wood, who had missed the fourth T20I.
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Once again, the pull shot proved to be his downfall as he mistimed his stroke and offered a straightforward catch to Jofra Archer at the boundary. This has become an unfortunate pattern in Samson’s game—bowlers have identified his vulnerability against the short ball and continue to exploit it.
— rohitkohlirocks@123@ (@21OneTwo34) February 2, 2025
Though the demise of Samson was dismal, India continued to enjoy the upper hand, crossing 100 with the loss of one wicket in just seven overs. However, the show by Sanju Samson in this series has been appalling. Following an outstanding 2024, where he emerged as India’s top T20I batsman, the start of 2025 has been less than joyous.
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In the five-match series, he has managed only 51 runs, marking one of the poorest performances by an Indian in T20Is. The only lower aggregate belongs to KL Rahul, who scored just 15 runs in 2021. Throughout the match, India maintained an aggressive approach, aiming to capitalize on their strong start and set a match-winning total against England’s bowling unit.
India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy
England (Playing XI): Philip Salt(w), Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler(c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood