India wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson has mostly been on the sidelines in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026. He has played in one game so far, against Namibia during the initial group-stage after regular opener Abhishek Sharma was ruled out of the contest due to illness.
Sanju made a good start, but couldn’t. capitalise on it, departing for a quick 8-ball 22 cameo hitting three maximums and a boundary. Nevertheless, with the return of Abhishek Sharma in the next game, Sanju went back to warming benches.
However, Abishek himself is struggling badly in the ICC event, with a hattrick of ducks in the first three games followed by a 12-ball 15 against South Africa in their opening Super 8 clash, which the Men in Blue lost in the end.
Now, with India facing a tricky must-win fixture against Zimbabwe next on Thursday (February 26), there has been talks of bringing Sanju Samson back into the fold. Echoing on the same lines, India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said in the pre-match press conference on the eve of the contest,
“There have been discussions around that and we are thinking. We will see because we never decide the team early. But there will be thoughts.”
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The dynamic right-hander, who enjoyed a tremendous 2024 with the bat where he hit three centuries, averaging at an impressive 43.6 with a strike rate of 180s, he was unceremoniously dropped down the pecking order in 2025.
The first blow came when India decided to bring back Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill into the shortest format. Gill was also named as the vice-captain of the T20I side, starting with the Asia Cup 2025, which meant Sanju had to sacrifice his opening position. Samson played in the middle order but could not recreate his heroics and lost further credibility.
Interestingly, Shubman Gill also struggled badly, which saw him getting axed for the New Zealand series earlier this year, While the notion was Sanju would move back to his position, he faced further competition with the management recalling Ishan Kishan prior to the T20 World Cup 2026, after his stellar domestic season.
Now with Ishan and Abhishek being the Indian opening pair, it remains to be seen who India decides to drop if Sanju walks back into the playing XI.
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