Sanju Samson did not make a favourable start to the T20I series against England at home. In the two matches so far, he scored 26 and 5, and on both occasions was troubled by short deliveries from Jofra Archer. But in a bid to deny his former Rajasthan Royals teammate a third consecutive delight, Samson took a unique route during the practice session at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot, the venue for the third T20I match of the series, on Monday.

The wicketkeeper-batter arrived at the Saurashtra Cricket Association ground on Monday with the rest of the Indian team for the third T20I, where the hosts will look to wrap up the series with a third straight win. However, unlike the rest of the batters, he padded up and waltz straight towards the cemented pitch along with new batting batting coach Sitanshu Kotak and throwdown specialists for company.

Samson sweated it out in the nets for 45 minutes where he was fed plastic balls for the pull and hook. Kotak, who was added to the Indian team as a specialist batting coach ahead of the start of this white-ball series, was seen having frequent exchanges with the batter. He mostly negotiated the rising ball along with an odd full ball sent by the throwdown specialists. Besides the pull and hook, Samson practised the ramp and the cut.

Samson then headed to the main square, where he batted for another 30 minutes, again focussing on the climbing ball.

After a long day at work on Monday, Samson will be backing himself to pass the England pace test in Rajkot on Tuesday.

India out to seal series in Rajkot

Riding on the heroics from the spinners, with Varun Chakaravarthy picking three wickets, and a whirlwind knock of 79 from Abhishek Sharma, India secured a seven-wicket win against England in the series opener on January 22 in Kolkata. The visitors put the hosts under pressure in the run chase in the second week, but Tilak Varma held his nerves to guide India to a two-wicket win.

On Tuesday, India, who have yet to lose a T20I game under head coach Gautam Gambhir, will be aiming to wrap up the series.

England, on the other hand, who are under the threat of losing the series, would be hoping to put a much improved performance with the bat. Skipper Jos Buttler has looked the most assured England batter thus far while the others have struggled against quality spin.

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