Sanju Samson has played quickfire cameos in two T20 World Cup 2026 games.
Sanju Samson returned to India’s playing XI against Zimbabwe, taking the opening spot along with Abhishek Sharma in Chennai. His return was always on the cards after top-order batters continued to struggle against spin, and their lineup became one-dimensional with all LHBs.
Samson wasted no time in settling, scoring a quickfire 24 in just 15 balls, including one boundary and two maximums, at a strike rate of 160. His presence helped Abhishek Sharma take a couple of balls to get his eye in before going berserk, as his partner acted as aggressor right from the start.
While the batter looked in good nick, former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Subramaniam Badrinath feels his technique is still improper, which might cause trouble. On his YouTube channel, he highlighted Samson’s tendency to expose his stumps, even though Badrinath backed him to continue.
“He is still technically wrong by moving away from the ball towards the leg side. He shows all three stumps to the bowler, giving them a target. A batter from a young age is taught not to show all the stumps to a bowler. Once you show all three stumps, you are making a fundamental mistake. There is a definite technical flaw in his game.”
Sanju Samson has played two T20 World Cup 2026 games so far, scoring 8-ball 22 against Namibia and 15-ball 24 against Zimbabwe. While there are no substantial scores, India won’t mind him playing these mini cameos since they help the team get a rapid start in the powerplay.
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Additionally, Samson’s presence at the top allows breaking an all-LHB top three and getting a decent batter against off-spin. He can also whack off-pace deliveries with a stable base, so India might persist with him after experimenting with a one-dimensional batting unit.
He hasn’t scored big runs lately, but it might be better than having a batter who not only takes away the variety but also struggles against spin at No.3. With Sanju Samson opening, India shifted Tilak Varma to No.5 – a move that might not work in the long run, but still enables the batter to face more pacers on relatively nice batting decks.
Ishan Kishan has improved massively against spinners and brings greater value, even if he is pushed to No.3 because of Samson. He has his issues, as Badrinath pointed out, but the time for any tweak has passed, and the team can’t afford to have him change his technique altogether at this stage.
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