Sanju Samson faces threat of warming bench throughout T20 World Cup 2026 as Ishan Kishan factor emerges

Sanju Samson’s place in India’s plans for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026 is no longer secure, and the pressure around him is slowly increasing. As the countdown to the global event begins, the fight for the wicketkeeper-batter slot has turned into a tense two-man race, and the upcoming matches against New Zealand could decide who will get the nod.

Sanju Samson has often been seen as the first-choice wicketkeeper in the T20I setup, but former India opener Aakash Chopra believes that nothing is fixed yet. Chopra has boldly claimed that Samson is not yet a guaranteed starter in India’s strongest XI for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026.

ICC T20 World Cup 2026 warm-up begins as Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan miss early chance

This India-New Zealand series is very important because it is the final T20 assignment for both teams before the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026, which is set to kick off on February 7. The Men in Blue started the series strongly by defeating New Zealand by 48 runs in the first match in Nagpur. However, despite the big win, both Sanju Samson and Kishan failed to make an impact.

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Sanju Samson was dismissed early after scoring 10 runs from seven balls. He tried to play an attacking shot but ended up hitting the ball straight to midwicket off the bowling of Kyle Jamieson. On the other hand, Ishan, who was playing his first T20I match since November 2023, could score only eight runs from five balls before mistiming a shot to the cover region off Jacob Duffy’s bowling.

Sanju Samson’s ICC T20 World Cup 2026 spot under threat as wicketkeeper battle heats up

Since both wicketkeeper-batters failed in the same match, the debate over who should be India’s first-choice keeper in the T20 World Cup is still wide open. The next few matches in the ongoing home T20I series are now extremely important for both players to get that spot in the playing XI.

The cricket pundit feels that the Indian cricket team management may have to choose between Samson and Ishan Kishan, depending on how both players perform in the remaining matches of the ongoing five-match T20I series against New Zealand at home.

Aakash Chopra was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo, "I'm not 100% certain yet because I think eventually it will be a toss-up between Sanju and Ishan Kishan. The next few games might actually give us an answer.”

Read Also: Sanju Samson finally speaks out on Rahul Dravid ignoring him at T20 World Cup 2024

Aakash Chopra questions Suryakumar Yadav's form

Meanwhile, India captain Suryakumar Yadav showed some positive signs. He played a knock of 32 runs from 22 balls, hitting four boundaries and one six. He looked confident but got out to New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner, failing to convert his start into a big score.

Even though Suryakumar’s innings showed improvement, Chopra still raised a red flag on the captain’s form. His numbers in T20I cricket during 2025 were disappointing.

In 19 innings last year, the stylish right-handed batter scored only 218 runs at an average of 13.62 and a strike rate of 123.16. His highest score during that period was 47 not out, which shows that he struggled to play long and match-winning innings.

Chopra signed off by saying, “He did hit a couple of wonderful shots to begin, but the way he got dismissed, eventually, you'll say a glass is half full or half empty. You want to actually believe that it's half full and you're getting there. But let's be fair, it's either half full or half empty. It's not full yet because the 50 hasn't come. The 100 hasn't come.”