Samson keeps fluffing his lines following another missed chance, making his chances to open look bleaker in the T20 World Cup.
Another missed opportunity, another step back for Samson.
Even before a ball was thrown during India’s chase against New Zealand in the fourth Twenty20 International in Visakhapatnam, Sanju Samson was clearly feeling the heat.
Samson typically scores India’s first goal. He has faced the first ball eighteen times out of the twenty-one times he had opened in Twenty20 Internationals before to Wednesday. However, Samson stood at the non-striker’s end as he and Abhishek Sharma went out to bat, something he hadn’t done since July 2024.
He was thought to be India’s top wicketkeeper-batter for the T20 World Cup prior to the start of the New Zealand series. However, his spot was in danger after just three games. Ishan Kishan, Samson’s backup, scored 76 off 32 in the second T20I and 28 off 13 in the third, whereas Samson scored 10, 6, and 0 in those matches.
The two were scheduled to square off again in Visakhapatnam in Tilak Varma’s ongoing absence. However, Kishan was sidelined due to a sore spot he developed during the third Twenty20 International. Samson thus had an additional chance.
There was more pressure as a result. India had never pursued this many before, thus New Zealand had set a target of 216. They were also a batter short as the team management substituted Arshdeep Singh for Kishan.
When Abhishek—possibly the most dangerous T20I batsman in the world right now—was out for a first-ball duck, the pressure increased. Samson’s massive knock would have allayed concerns about his form and position in the starting lineup. However, he was only able to score 24 off 15 balls in an innings that lacked conviction.
He managed to survive the seamers in Visakhapatnam, but Mitchell Santner made sure he didn’t live long. The wicket was exposed when Samson returned because he was already standing outside the leg stump. The ball clattered against the centre pole after pitching a decent distance, holding its line and beating the outside edge. Samson knew he had missed another chance, as seen by the disappointed expression on his face as he dragged himself off the pitch.
Beyond his lean run, Samson will suffer if he is dropped from the starting lineup. Towards the conclusion of 2024, he had made the opening position his own by hitting three hundreds in five innings. However, Shubman Gill was brought in to start alongside Abhishek prior to the 2025 Asia Cup. Samson was moved to the back of the queue. Those in charge noticed the Gill experiment was failing as he was getting used to his new position and urged Samson to reopen. In this unstable arrangement, the last thing a batter wants is such rapid change.
Samson was a member of the Indian team that won the T20 World Cup in 2024. However, he didn’t play a single game because Rishabh Pant was the primary wicketkeeper. This time, he would prefer not to be on the bench. However, he is running out of time and may have to, with only one T20I and a warm-up match remaining before the World Cup.