Ex-India star launches brutal attack on Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir for mishandling Sanju Samson

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar has mentioned that Sanju Samson was treated unfairly on the Indian side. He should have been part of the Indian T20I XI after those big hundreds in 2024, but instead lost his position to Shubman Gill.

India were the defending champions and looked like one of the strongest sides in the T20 World Cup, but during the start of their tournament, Abhishek Sharma's poor form had cost them the early upper hand in their home World Cup. The issue was resolved with Sanju Samson's heroic entry into the Indian XI.

Not until the New Zealand series did Sanju have a place in the XI, but he was then tried after Indian selectors dropped Shubman Gill from the squad. However, despite the chances, Samson could not make full use of the NZ games and ended up scoring runs at an average of around 10.

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With Sanju Samson, I think there were serious blunders committed - Sanjay Manjrekar

The cricketer-turned-commentator, Sanjay Manjrekar, stressed the fact that the Indian team management was unfair with the wicket-keeper batter early on. India suddenly ignored his spectacular form in T20s and reinstated Shubman Gill into the side due to his prolific run in a Test series in England.

Forget Samson's impact; Gill was not even effective in the shorter format of the game.

“With Sanju Samson, I think there were serious blunders committed. One is when Sanju Samson seemed to have come of age and recently got three T20 international hundreds in five innings against teams like South Africa. He was actually dropped down the order a few matches later, just after four or five innings, because Shubman Gill in England had a tremendous Test series.

"It just warped logic that because Shubman Gill played so well in Test cricket, he was reinstated, he was recalled to the Indian T20 team, and what’s worse, Sanju Samson, who was at the top of the order, was pushed down the order to make way for Shubman Gill," he said while speaking in a video on Instagram.

Sanjay Manjrekar narrates how Samson's T20 World Cup redemption was written

He continued with Sanju, slowly losing form in the Asia Cup, where he was sent in to bat lower in the batting order. However, despite limited opportunities, Samson scored 132 runs in 4 outings in the Asia Cup, 5 runs more than Shubman Gill's 127 in 7 innings.

The former batter cited the vital role played by fate in Sanju Samson's being reinstated into the Indian playing XI and his firing off to take India home through the knockout games in the ICC T20 World Cup.

“Now, this is where fate comes in. Rinku Singh’s absence [actually Abhishek Sharma due to illness] in one of the games [against Namibia] got Sanju Samson to come back in, and Tilak Varma, who was struggling at No. 3, was pushed down the order [against Zimbabwe], and that is why Ishan Kishan was batting at No. 3.

"He could bat at No. 3, and Sanju Samson got that spot, which should’ve been his right through at the top of the order, and as they say, the rest is history,” Manjrekar added.

A record three-match half-century streak from Sanju Samson to emerge as India's World Cup hero

Sanju's axing came despite the batter's dynamic form in 2024 for India in T20I cricket and limited opportunities to express himself in 2025; however, he had to eagerly wait for the right stage, and he did.

When he got the unforeseen opportunity in the T20 World Cup, Samson did not miss out. He started off with a 22-run cameo against Namibia and followed it with a 24 off 15 against Zimbabwe.

However, his true redemption came when India were almost in a knockout situation against the West Indies. His 97* off 50 balls helped them through to the semi-finals in a high-voltage chase, and then he looked unstoppable.

An 89 off 42 against England in the semi-final and another 89 off 46 against New Zealand in the finals is what made Samson finish the tournament with 321 runs at a strike rate of 199.37.

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