When India plays a revitalized England in the fourth T20 International here on Friday, Sanju Samson’s technical shortcomings against express speed and Rinku Singh’s recent slump in form and health concerns would be a worry.

The last round of the five-match series provides the hosts another chance to win the series heading into the final encounter in Mumbai on February 2, after they blew their opportunities in the third Twenty20 International in Rajkot.

The first two matches were won by Suryakumar Yadav’s team in Chennai and Kolkata. Prior to the current series, Samson, the innovative keeper-batter from Kerala, began the T20I season with three hundreds against South Africa and Bangladesh. His devoted and understanding fan following never fails to remind everyone of the few opportunities he has.

He received scores of 26, 5, and 3 on the most recent rubber, but they are hardly alarming figures. Given the kind of strokes that batters use these days, there would always be a lot of less lucrative days at the office in T20 cricket if risk were taken into account.

What worries me about Samson, however, is how uncomfortable he feels when bowled anything longer than 145 ticks. He faced Taskin Ahmed and Tanzim Hasan Shakib against Bangladesh at home, while bowlers Andile Simelane and Lutho Sipamla challenged him in South Africa.

He correctly took them to the cleaners since these quick bowlers aren’t really threatening. These bowlers can be hit through the line on flat decks and fire in the 130–140 click range. But Mark and Jofra Archer

The speed at which Wood bowls, which ranges from 145 to 155 kmph, is causing Samson issues. Deliveries would thump into Phil Salt’s hands throughout all three games, making it impossible for the Kerala hitter to even get his bat down.

Even on batting shirt-fronts, it is difficult to knock through the line if one has the right technique or isn’t often exposed to this quick bowling characteristic because to the harsh lengths and steep bounce.

Samson is a favorite of head coach Gautam Gambhir, and it is anticipated that he will continue to play in the T20 World Cup the following year. However, Gambhir, Sitanshu Kotak, the new batting coach, and himself must resolve his technical concerns as soon as possible.

Dhruv Jurel seems out of place.

The team management had to test Dhruv Jurel at number seven because to Rinku Singh’s back spasms, but he hasn’t seemed comfortable in this format, unlike Test cricket.

Despite being rested for the first two games, assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said at the pregame news conference that Rinku was well enough to play on Friday. However, even Rinku has lost his mind after having a fantastic start to his T20I career.

Rinku played a total of 70 balls in the 2024 IPL after Gambhir took over as coach of the Kolkata Knikght Riders. He was thus unable to qualify for the T20 World Cup since Shivam Dube was seen as superior in the Americas due to his bowling prowess.

With Dube back in the mix, would Gambhir take a risk with the Indian middle order, which hasn’t exactly performed well against England spinner Adil Rashid so far? It seems doubtful since even the muscular Mumbaikar would feel uneasy with the speed of England’s speedsters.

Ramandeep Singh is the third choice; he is a better seamer than Dube and he has an interesting finishing appearance. He hasn’t been challenged against a quality pace attack, however.

Will Arshdeep return to complete the series?

Mohammed Shami requires a lot of bowling throughout games, and the Rajkot encounter was a respectable, if unimpressive, start to his international career.

Gambhir wouldn’t want to be the first coach to lose a home Twenty20 International series against England, even if a bilateral series victory doesn’t mean much.

Therefore, if Arshdeep Singh, India’s top T20I bowler in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence, is expected to return and make some breakthroughs in the Powerplay overs, that would be intriguing.

Groups:

India: Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, and Suryakumar Yadav (captain).

England: Adil Rashid, Brydon Carse, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Jacob Bethell, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt (wk), Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Smith (wk), and skipper Jos Buttler.

The game begins at 7:00 p.m. IST.