NEW DELHI: The biggest selection pain for India ahead of the T20 World Cup has come at the top of the rankings. The management had to settle for a partner for Abhishek Sharma while locking down the wicketkeeping role, a decision that was at the center of debate within the team earlier. Sanju Samson ticked both boxes, ruling out vice-captain Shubman Gill in the call, chief selector Ajit Agarkar later explained that he was driven by team composition rather than individual merit.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!This call also marked a subtle shift back to earlier thinking. For most of 2024 and early 2025, India invested heavily in Samson as an opener, consistently pairing him with Abhishek across bilateral series. The partnership was shelved until the 2025 Asia Cup, when Gill was reintroduced to the T20I set-up after his Test duties, forcing Samson into a role that neither suited his strengths nor gave him time to settle.
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Batting in the middle order, Samson struggled to find rhythm and clarity. His reduced impact opened the door for Jitesh Sharma, whose late intervention dictated a different kind of use to the team as a backup keeper. As World Cup planning gathered pace, the selectors were forced to reassess, especially as Gill endured a lean run and failed to provide the explosiveness expected in the PowerPlay.The equation has been reversed once more. Samson was restored to the opening slot, while Ishan Kishan, fresh from an excellent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign, was brought back into the mix as an outfielder and top-order cover. On paper, the pieces finally seemed to line up, giving India clarity up top and flexibility behind.However, a crack has appeared in what otherwise looks like a well-built T20 batting line-up. Built on a string of dominant batting displays, India raced to an elusive 3-0 lead in the ongoing five-match T20I series against New Zealand. However, Samson barely featured in any of these victories.
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His struggles are openly visible and immediate. In the entire series so far, his scores have read 10, 6 and 0 – figures that sit uncomfortably alongside India’s emphatic results. The numbers make for damning reading.Former Indian women’s coach WV Raman offered a technical reading of Samson’s dismissals, writing on X: “Samson will be inconsistent unless he adjusts his bat swing speed in relation to the pace of the ball. Simply put, you can’t drive a car at the same speed all the time.”However, the concerns against the Kiwis run deeper than one week. Samson’s lean run has been going on for almost a year. Since January 2025, he has survived PowerPlay only once in nine T20I innings as an opener. He averaged just 11.55 during that span. Overall, he averages 17 in 14 outings at a strike average of 126.59. The only 50 plus result came against Oman.The question now is how long Samson can hold onto the starting spot.Another layer of intrigue is the form and suitability of Ishan Kishan for the same role. Kishan easily mirrored Abhishek Sharma’s attacking philosophy. While Kishan’s opportunities came partly due to Tilak Varma’s injury, he also reminded the management of his real experience as an opener in the format.In practice, this means that Samson’s early dismissal has made Kishan the de facto opener of the ongoing series.The return of Tilak Varma, who is expected to be fully fit for the World Cup, immediately puts him back at No. 3. That leaves India with an opener low on confidence and a back-line brimming with runs, pace and intent.Despite the noise, Samson still has huge support. Former India captain Ajinkya Rahane believes the onus is on the group management to provide clarity and certainty.“In that, I feel the role of leading the team and the role of the captain will be key as I say to Sanju Samson that ‘you are going to play all these matches and also in the T20 World Cup, so don’t worry about your place,'” Rahane said on Cricbuzz.“Sanju Samson will have that pressure on him because he is basically trying to match Abhishek Sharma. The only thing for Sanju Samson is to stick to his own game plan and support himself.”Veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin echoed the sentiment and warned against reactive selection calls. Ashwin warned on his YouTube channel that the frequent chopping and changing between Samson and Kishan could unsettle the dressing room.“It’s too early to think about dropping him. If India continue with such circus performances by playing Sanju when he was doing well before and now Kishan because he is playing well now, I don’t need to say how it will end for India. It is not ideal in the dressing room. There is a lot of competition for places but it is too early for that change,” Ashwin said.So far, it looks like India will stick with Samson. In a series where Suryakumar Yadav has finally rediscovered his form, he believes Samson can do the same in Vizag and Trivandrum. But if the runs continue to dry up, India may yet find themselves facing another tough decision with Sanju Samson at the center once again.
