In September 2025, Shubman Gill trumped Sanju Samson. Now, it’s Ishan Kishan. It wasn’t the wicketkeeper’s fault the first time, but this time around, Samson has no one but himself to blame.
Since his return as India’s first-choice opener, 37, 10, 6, 0, and 24 have been his scores. That’s 77 runs in 5 innings. Ishan Kishan has scored more runs than in two fewer innings. The left-handed batter from Jharkhand has completely overshadowed Samson.
Granted, Samson was unjustifiably demoted and even dropped to accommodate Gill. But Kishan, like him, wasn’t opening the batting for India. While the southpaw has had success, Samson has looked out of sorts against New Zealand.
Has Sanju Samson’s time run out?
Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal feels for Samson but thinks he’s got only himself to blame. Even in Visakhapatnam, Samson played, and Kishan didn’t. But he wasn’t able to make an impact.
“Sanju Samson has played for many years. He started in the IPL middle-order, then became an opener. After playing international cricket for 10-12 years, pressure shouldn’t be an excuse. He has had four chances in this series. I can accept failure in one or two matches, but not in three or four. He knows someone like Ishan Kishan, who is the backup and is batting well at number three, is waiting. Sanju will blame himself. He had four opportunities but could not make them count,” Chahal said on JioStar.
The leg spinners think the Indian management, head coach Gautam Gambhir, and captain Suryakumar Yadav will be right if they decide to drop Samson for the T20 World Cup 2026 opener against the USA and open with Kishan.
“However, there’s no need to feel too bad because the T20 World Cup is still far. There’s one more match against New Zealand. It now depends on the team management’s thinking. If they feel Sanju is struggling as an opener and Ishan is doing well at number three, then the right call would be to make Sanju sit out and let Kishan take his spot as the opener and wicketkeeper in the final T20I,” he added.
Ishan Kishan & Sanju Samson against New Zealand
| Batter | Innings | Runs | Highest Score | Average | Strike Rate | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ishan Kishan | 3 | 112 | 76 | 37.33 | 224 | 1 |
| Sanju Samson | 4 | 40 | 24 | 10 | 142.85 | 0 |
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