Former India cricket team star Saba Karim has backed an out-of-form Sanju Samson to continue at the top of the order ahead of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the ongoing ENG vs IND series. His remarks come after the keeper-batter’s repeated failures in the last three games and the growing clamour around the delay in the 15-year-old’s T20I debut. Ahead of the ENG vs IND 2nd T20I, Karim stressed on the need for India to be patient with Sanju while pointing out that Vaibhav had to earn his place in the playing XI.
‘Samson is a fabulous player’
Speaking on Star Sports’ show ‘Follow the Blues’, Karim noted that Samson was a match-winner who was crowned the Player of the Tournament in the T20 World Cup 2026 following which he had a good IPL season. The former BCCI selector said that Sanju must be wondering why he is being targeted after his repeated failures. The Keralam keeper-batter has registered five ducks in his last 10 away T20Is, two hundred-plus scores and three single digit knocks. It is pertinent to point out that Sanju Samson has been consistently inconsistent in his T20I career, making him an easy target after every failure.
“I don’t think so at this stage. Sanju Samson is a fabulous player. He has been a match-winner. He had a very good IPL season. Before that, he was the Player of the Tournament in the T20 World Cup. What are we looking at? Sanju Samson would be thinking, ‘Why is everyone pointing the gun at me?‘” Saba said.
Meanwhile, Sooryavanshi continues to wait on the sidelines for his T20I debut. The prolific batter earned his maiden India call-up after a stellar IPL 2026 season where he finished with 776 runs to his name. However, he did not get a chance to make his debut in the series against Ireland and in the ENG vs IND 1st T20I. This was because the team management decided to back the existing set of openers, noting that Sooryavanshi needs to wait for his opportunity.
Karim shares a similar view, noting that simply being a part of the Indian team will serve as a learning curve.
“Even for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, this is a good learning curve. He also gets to understand that to get into this Indian team XI, you have to earn your call-up. This environment will help him grow as a player and as a human being. Although he has got such an incredible amount of talent, when you get into such a competitive environment, you need to bide your time,” he added.
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