India, Jan. 28 -- Sanju Samson's struggles continued in the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand as the wicketkeeper-batter once again failed to convert a promising start into a meaningful contribution. Samson looked fluent early on but was dismissed for 24 off 15 balls, adding another modest score to his tally in a series where runs have been hard to come by for him. With Ishan Kishan showing encouraging intent earlier in the series while batting at No. 3, the pressure is steadily mounting on Samson to justify his place in the XI.

During the fourth T20I at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, Samson walked in at a tense moment with India losing Abhishek Sharma and skipper Suryakumar Yadav early in a daunting 216-run chase. ...