Former Indian Chairman of Selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth won’t be handing any more opportunities to Sanju Samson. Barring injury concerns, Srikkanth doesn’t think Samson will be part of India’s playing XI in the T20 World Cup 2026.
No place for Sanju Samson
After yet another underwhelming performance in Thiruvananthapuram, Srikkanth, who has previously backed Samson, thinks the Indian management should move on from him. He instead wants Ishan Kishan to open with Abhishek Sharma. The batter from Jharkhand played at three against New Zealand and even kept the wickets in the last match.
“It started when Archer kept bouncing him (Samson) out last year. Nobody will get so many opportunities like this. They’ve given him a very long rope. Yes, they played around with his position a bit during the Asia Cup,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
“You have not scored at all and failed in 10 innings, opening the batting, and Ishan Kishan, on the other hand, is producing match-winning knocks where he puts the team in a different zone altogether. There is no comparison right now between the two,” he added.
Ishan Kishan & Sanju Samson against New Zealand
| Batter | Innings | Runs | Highest Score | Average | Strike Rate | 50s | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ishan Kishan | 4 | 215 | 103 | 53.75 | 231.18 | 1 | 1 |
| Sanju Samson | 5 | 46 | 24 | 9.20 | 135.29 | 0 | 0 |
Tilak Varma comes in
If Samson goes out, someone will have to come in. That someone will be Tilak Varma. The 23-year-old has been on the sidelines after undergoing an emergency surgery last month, but he’ll be fit for the T20 World Cup and return to his number three spot.
Axar Patel didn’t feature in three games against New Zealand with a finger injury but played in the final match. Now that he’s back, Tilak’s inclusion and Samson’s exclusion will be the only changes for Srikkanth.
Krishnamachari Srikkanth’s India Playing XI for T20 World Cup
Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vc), Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy
Bench: Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar
