Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan believes that Chennai Super Kings opener Sanju Samson is likely to take on Kolkata Knight Riders’ Sunil Narine ahead of their clash at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on April 14. Citing a key statistic, Pathan believes the Indian opener has only modest numbers against the veteran spinner.
Sanju Samson silenced his critics on Saturday after scoring an unbeaten 115 off 56 balls against Delhi Capitals to lead his team to their first win of the season in the Indian Premier League. Samson, whose innings of 115 included 15 boundaries and 4 sixes, failed to get out of the blocks in CSK’s opening three games.
“Against Sunil Narine, he (Sanju Samson) was dismissed three times. He faced around 80 balls in total and his strike rate against him is only around 80. He struggles to score and play big shots against him,” Pathan said on his youtube channel.
SAMSON vs NARINE TO BE A MATCH CHANGER?
The former cricketer-turned-broadcaster believes so match between Samson and Narinecould prove volatile 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 his back foot more? On this Chepauk pitch where there is more bounce, you don’t need to step forward too often. You can play more comfortably off the back foot,” he explained.
In four matches so far, Samson has scored 13 runs at an average of 45.66 with a success rate of 182.66. On the other hand, Sunil Narine hasn’t had the best start to the IPL either, taking just two wickets at an average of 41 while going at 7.45 runs per over.
KKR will be hoping that their veteran spinner might just turn the tide in their favor at historically friendly Chepauk, which has seen runs for fun in the last few encounters.
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Published on:
14 Apr 2026 18:06 IST
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