‘Sanju one knock away from getting his form back,’ says Morkel. Is he ready for Vizag?

India's bowling coach Morne Morkel is certain that Sanju Samson can bounce back from the lean patch he is going through in the T20I home series against New Zealand.

The former South African pacer evinced hope that Sanju can return to his explosive best in the matches that remain before the T20 World Cup begins on February 7.

"Sanju is one knock away from getting that confidence, getting that form back," Morkel said on the eve of India's 4th match against the Kiwis, in Visakhapatnam.

"For us, building up to the World Cup, it's important for the guys to find that peak performance at the right time. He's training well, he's hitting the ball very well," Morkel said. "We've got a couple of games now before the start of the World Cup, and I have no doubt that Sanju will find his form."

Despite the vote of confidence, Sanju should feel the heat having performed poorly in the series, with scores of 10, 6 and 0. Sanju had returned to his favoured opener role in the absence of Shubman Gill.

In the third T20I in Guwahati, Sanju was clean-bowled by Matt Henry in the first ball of India's innings. The final T20I is in Thiruvananthapuram, Sanju's hometown, and he will be expected to land there with a morale-boosting performance in Visakhapatnam.

On Tuesday, Sanju spent more than 30 minutes in the nets, facing Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy, among others. He also had a long chat with Head Coach Gautam Gambhir and batting coach Sitanshu Kotak.

Sanju has ups and downs throughout his career. In 2024, after hitting back-to-back centuries in T20Is, he was out for ducks in consecutive innings. However, Sanju found form immediately with a third ton in Johannesburg. Sanju's fans would be hoping he returns to his best in the fourth T20I, set to begin at 7 pm.