Sanju Samson has shown obvious issues in the initial matches.
Sanju Samson might have developed a pattern with the new ball. In the three IPL 2026 games, the balls going away have dismissed him on all three occasions. This included a perfect plan from Rajasthan Royals (RR).
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Since 2025, Samson has scored only at a strike rate of 84.61 and been dismissed thrice against all pace deliveries going away from him in the powerplay. He has been dismissed every 8.66 deliveries. Additionally, he has played as many as 65.38% dot balls and 38.46% false shots.
On other balls, Samson has collectively struck at 153.76, and dot% has come down to 38.70 only. He has been dismissed only once. So, other deliveries might not work against him, and the best way to remove him is by taking the ball away.
The lengths are also important against Samson: DC pacers will need to pitch slightly fuller around the good-length area to allow the ball to generate more movement and bring the batter forward. All four powerplay dismissals against pace have come on good-length balls or fuller. The main reason for those wickets has been his over-reliance on playing drives, which have accounted for three of his four dismissals in 48 powerplay deliveries.
It’s the most obvious ploy: pitch it fuller, take the ball away, and force Sanju Samson to play those drives on the up, possibly with a short cover and a slip in place. Notably, the new ball has swung more prodigiously and longer across venues this season. That would make Samson more vulnerable since his feet don’t move much early on.
However, once the drive doesn’t reap in his dismissal, Delhi Capitals can shift to the RR plan. Like RR, they can opt to put a flying slip and a third man to block his off-side shots and make him play against the line on the leg side. Usually, Samson tries to play those cheeky cuts and dabs early on to settle himself, and once that doesn’t happen, his issues against away-going deliveries will exacerbate.
Mukesh Kumar has bowled reasonably well in the powerplay so far, but his issues have been prominent against RHBs. None of his wickets has come against right-handers, but he will fancy his chances with movement on offer. He doesn’t take the ball away from RHBs, so run-scoring becomes easier at times.
Mukesh will need to change on that aspect with the new ball. Meanwhile, Lungi Ngidi will also need to bowl more pace-on deliveries early on to extract movement. He has delivered around 36.66% of off-pace balls in the first six overs this season, which have also worked well, but that might need to change a bit should he bowl with the new ball.
Sanju Samson is powerful and whacks off-pace deliveries with a stable base, so they might not work in the powerplay. His issues are too obvious not to be exploited by wasting the new ball with slower balls. At least for the first four overs, the speedsters should bowl pace-on deliveries just in the channel to exploit his weakness.
Delhi Capitals can also look to try an over of T Natarajan during the field restrictions. Samson has been dismissed once against the pacer and could only strike at 109.52 in all T20s. The plan should be to remove him with pace-on deliveries before he becomes mighty dangerous.
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