Samson to struggle against Narine? Irfan Pathan points out stat ahead of CSK vs KKR
Irfan Pathan believes Sanju Samson could struggle against Sunil Narine, citing his poor record and low strike rate against the spinner. However, Samson's recent return to form makes their battle crucial, especially on a Chepauk, where spin could play a key role.
Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan believes Chennai Super Kings’ opener Sanju Samson is likely to struggle against Kolkata Knight Riders’ Sunil Narine ahead of their encounter at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on April 14. Citing a key stat, Pathan believes that the Indian opener has only modest numbers against the veteran spinner.
Sanju Samson, on Saturday, silenced his critics after scoring an unbeaten 115 off 56 balls against Delhi Capitals, guiding his team to their first victory in this season’s Indian Premier League. Samson, whose innings of 115 included 15 boundaries and 4 sixes, had failed to get off the blocks in the opening three games of CSK.
“Against Sunil Narine, he (Sanju Samson) has been dismissed three times. He has faced around 80 balls in total and his strike rate against him is only around 80. He struggles to score runs and play big shots against him,” Pathan said on his youtube channel.
SAMSON vs NARINE TO BE MATCH-CHANGING?
The former-cricketer turned broadcaster believes that this match-up between Samson and Narine, could prove to be match-changing given Samson’s return to form.
“It will be important to see how quickly Kolkata bring Sunil Narine into the attack against Sanju Samson, and how Samson counters him. Does he use more of the back foot? On this pitch at Chepauk, where there is more bounce, there is not much need to come forward too often. You can play more comfortably off the back foot,” he elaborated.
In four matches, thus far, Samson has scored 13 runs at an average of 45.66 with a strike-rate of 182.66. Sunil Narine, on the other hand, too hasn’t had the best of starts to the IPL, taking only two wickets at an average of 41, while going for 7.45 runs-per-over.
KKR will be hoping that their veteran spinner might just turn the tides for his side at a historically spin-friendly Chepauk, which has seen runs being scored for fun in the last few encounters.
IPL 2026 | IPL Schedule | IPL Points Table | IPL Player Stats | Purple Cap | Orange Cap | IPL Videos | Cricket News | Live Score