Sanju Samson scoring three centuries in five T20Is is a thing of the past, and the right-hander is now struggling for runs. India's wicketkeeper-batter is clearly finding it tough to get going and has been found out against quick short-pitch bowling.

In the ongoing series against England, Sanju has scored 35 runs in four matches, and it is fair to say that the 30-year-old is in need of some quality time in the middle.

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar reckons Sanju needs to be persisted with as he keeps the team first and goes after the bowling despite him struggling for runs.

He also reckons Sanju is a match-winner and hence such players need to be given some time and persisted with, despite failures.

"When you are looking at a T20I talent, batting talent, you have got to see when they are playing well what kind of impact they can make, what contribution they can make. And you see with Sanju Samson when he plays well, he gets an incredible hundred and puts your team in a winning position," Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo.

"So, such people are allowed failures and maybe a long patch of failures as well because that's the nature of these as a T20 cricketer, where you can't play yourself, where you have to keep taking those risks that they take. Hopefully, there's that one innings that just propels him back into form," he added.

Give Sanju Samson as many innings as possible

It needs to be mentioned that Sanju Samson has the highest strike rate of 177.54 among all T20I opening batters who have scored at least 500 runs.

Ever since taking over the opening slot after the T20 World Cup win last year, Sanju Samson has scored more than 500 runs with three centuries and one fifty to his name.

In the ongoing series against England, Sanju Samson has lost his wicket thrice to Jofra Archer and once to Saqib Mahmood. His scores in the series read 26, 5, 3 and 1.

"So, with Sanju Samson, I think you should just make sure that he gets as many innings as possible purely because when he gets into form and plays well, he makes it all worth it," said Manjrekar.

"If that was another guy who was failing in this fashion and when he got into form just got you 40 or 50, then maybe you would offer him a shorter rope. But I will have a lot of patience with this current version of Sanju Samson," he added.

India have an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series. India and England will square off in the final T20I on Sunday at the Wankhede Stadium.