Sanju Samson.
Credit: PTI Photo
India might have sealed the five-match series against New Zealand and looked confident ahead of a home T20 World Cup, but one piece of the jigsaw puzzle remains. Sanju Samson.
While India have steamrolled the Kiwis with powerful batting performances, the talented Samson has managed to accumulate only 40 runs at an average of 10 in the four matches so far. This, when he is been given his best spot at the top of the order.
With Tilak Varma likely to recover and slot at No 3 in the World Cup, only one of Kishan or Samson could find a place in the playing 11.
When he takes field on Saturday at his home ground in Thiruvananthapuram, Samson will be under additional pressure leading into the World Cup. The wicketkeeper batter's place in the team is under threat, especially with Ishan Kishan responding with explosive knocks upon his return to international cricket.
There is no question about the 31-year-old's ability and his three centuries at the highest level in the shortest format prove it, However, an average of 24.4 even after batting at the top of the order in majority of his innings tell a story about his inconsistency and troubles.
Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak backed the Kerala-based batter ahead of the fifth T20I.
"Sanju is the senior player; he is very good. He might not have scored as many runs as everybody would like, but that is part of a cricketing career. Sometimes you have five innings in a row where you score so many runs, and sometimes you have a little dry period," Kotak said, indicating that the management is backing their first-choice keeper for the World Cup.
But, time seems to be running out.
Samson's promise
Samson burst into the scene with a half-century against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League way back in 2013. As an 18-year-old, he was the youngest to score a 50 in the tournament at that time. He also earned the Emerging Player of the Season that year and was touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket.
Within two years, he had donned the Indian jersey when he made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe, but he played only one match before being dropped.
And that has been the story of his career.
He waited for five more years before making a comeback into the Indian team. However, he averaged only 10 and 11 in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
Despite a poor run, Samson was backed through in 2022, thanks to his knocks in the One Day format. He managed to slam his first T20I fifty, before fading off in 2023, even after not having a fixed position in the playing 11, leave alone a batting slot.
The batter was still chosen for the 2024 T20 World Cup as the backup for Rishabh Pant.
His breakthrough came in the away series against South Africa following India's successful World Cup, when he slammed classy two centuries and followed it up with another stunning ton against Bangladesh at home as he was promoted up the order.
The slump
However, his shot selection, temperament and inconsistencies were exposed when he faced the extra-pace of Jofra Archer in early 2025. He managed to score only 51 runs in five matches with a highest of 26.
That was the beginning of his prolonged struggle.
Since last year Samson has scored only 262 runs in 15 innings at an average of just 17.46 and a strike rate of over 129, with a best score of 56 against Oman.
These numbers are even worse when he opens. His last 10 outings as an opener has yielded him only 128 runs in 10 innings and his best score of 37. He has crossed the 20-run mark at this position only thrice, and batted through the powerplay only twice since 2025.
It has not helped that the keeper was tossed around the batting order. After a disappointing series against England, Samson was pushed into the middle order to accommodate Shubman Gill. However, he never batted below No 5 during this period.
The experiment failed and Samson found himself back at the top, but this time it is his shortcoming against pacers that has come to bite the batter.
Final lease of life
With Kishan in red-hot form, Samson finds himself in familiar territory once again, only this time, it is because of his own poor show.
The opener's place hangs by the thread as he enters the match at his home-ground on Saturday.
Given the management's recent backing and the fact that it will be a left handed-heavy top order if Kishn and Abhishek open along with Tilak at No 3, a decent hit in the middle should secure Samson's place as India looks to defend their T20 World Cup title.
It is also to be noted that Samson was the first-choice keeper when the squad was announced and Kishan had made a comeback into the team after more than a year, in a surprising selection.