Sanju Samson’s career on the line! Guwahati T20I to decide his India future

Former India National Cricket Team opening batsman Aakash Chopra has issued a do-or-die ultimatum to the star wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson.

Aakash Chopra opined that the Kerala superstar would be playing the most important match of his life when India enter the field in Guwahati to take on New Zealand on Sunday, January 25.

The Sanju Samson Struggle

Samson has had a great run since becoming the permanent opener for India. However, last year, Samson faced a massive setback when the selection committee decided to recall Shubman Gill to the T20I setup.

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The arrival of Shubman Gill on the side led to Sanju Samson losing his place as opener and eventually saw him warming the bench with Jitesh Sharma playing in the middle order.

This experiment of Gill at the top failed miserably, and the selection committee decided to pivot ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026. Now, Samson is once again back as an opener, but failed miserably in two outings against New Zealand, scoring 10 and 6 runs.

Now, he is facing pressure from God's child, Ishan Kishan, who has made a stunning comeback to the Indian team and set the stage on fire with his counterattack knock in the Raipur T20I.

This could be the most important match of Sanju Samson's life - Sanju Samson

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra stated that the return of Tilak Varma to the playing XI from injury will lead to one of Samson and Ishan Kishan being axed and in all possibility it could be the Kerala lad.

"This could be the most important match of Sanju Samson's life. I say that because this is the third match, Tilak Varma might be available after this match, and you might see him playing the match on the 28th. Then only one of Ishan Kishan and Sanju will play," he said, as quoted by SportsKeeda.

"So who will be that player? In the first two matches, both got out in the first match, Ishan Kishan scored 76 runs off 32 balls in the second match, and he has now run ahead in that race," he added.

They made Gill the vice-captain, but didn't drop Sanju - Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra further explained how the Indian team management and selectors have treated Sanju Samson poorly and kept pushing him into challenging situations despite his stunning run at the top of the order in T20I cricket. The cricketer-turned-commentator explained:

"When you made him open for the first time, you said you would give him seven matches. Sanju went and scored three hundreds, and he was the toast of the nation. However, after that, there was a series against England, where he didn't score runs and got out similarly in all five innings," he said.

"After that, he had a middling IPL because he was injured. Then India had already pivoted when the next T20 event happened. They had changed the philosophy because of that one bad series, that they didn't need striker Sanju, but Shubman Gill as a stable anchor," Chopra added.

"They made Gill the vice-captain, but didn't drop Sanju because they might have had a slight guilt as well since Sanju hadn't done that badly. Then he was made to bat in different positions. Then you pivoted again and said you would make Sanju the main keeper because we don't need Shubman Gill," he said.

Also Read: Sanju Samson in danger? Rishabh Pant’s T20 World Cup 2026 selection case ignited at last moment