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Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan: Three openers vying for two places. The challenge was huge among the team management as well as the players. ‘Who will be the opener for Team India in the 2026 T20 World Cup?’ This was a big question before the tournament.
The team management chose the openers – Abhishek and Ishan based on their recent performances during the bilateral T20I series against New Zealand. Sanju Samson was the first choice to form the opening bond with Abhishek Sharma.
Sanju Samson out of action ahead of 2026 T20 World Cup
Sanju proved to be a huge flop during the New Zealand series and as a result, he was dropped from the playing eleven and Ishan Kishan was selected as the opener. A few weeks after winning the T20 World Cup 2026, Samson opened his lips to describe the phase when Ishan Kishan was consistently delivering brilliant innings, and Samson had no option but to watch those matches from the dugout as a mere spectator.
Samson claimed that he faced pressure situations many times during his career, but the emergence of Ishan Kishan put him in a delicate situation that he had never experienced before. Fear, the fear of losing a place in Team India, began to dash the batsman’s last hope of revival.
Ishan Kishan’s rise was like a storm
Sanju Samson said during a podcast, “It happens suddenly. But after being out of two games, I was under a lot of pressure. I could never feel that kind of pressure in my life. Just went through it. Honestly, I couldn’t get out of it. I just had a gap of one to two days, practice, matches.”
He said, “It kept going on. And then I could realise, at the other end, to be honest, Ishan Kishan, he came into the team out of nowhere. They had a great Mushtaq Ali. He won the championship for Jharkhand. And then I could see, seriously, he also has a great story.”
Samson faced fear and won
Ishan Kishan’s rise was like a fairy tale. From battling personal problems and injuries to leading Jharkhand to win the domestic trophy, among the players, Ishan Kishan deserved to be included in the team and also in the T20 World Cup.
Sanju Samson knew the story of struggle of this Jharkhand-born player. Gautam Gambhir and Co. kept their faith in the keeper-batsman. But it was Sanju Samson who finished the tournament as the star performer for India by scoring consecutive innings of 97* and two 89s in the final moments of the title race.
Samson had to regain self-confidence to show his true spirit, class and character on the field.
“But recently, I feel like after what happened to Ishan in the last two years, he has also gone out of the system. He worked very hard in domestic cricket, and he is where he came from. And he is starting to score runs,” he further explained.
Sanju Samson opens up on the pressure and fear of losing his place against Ishan Kishan
– Sanju revealed that after failing in two T20 matches, he felt immense pressure and even started feeling that Ishan was coming to replace him before his strong home comeback and century… pic.twitter.com/hVgaMT5eVX
– Sam (@Cricsam01) 10 May 2026
“And I, honestly, I can admit it on camera that I can feel him coming to my place. Like, of course, you feel, you must have felt it too. And when in Trivandrum he scored 100, I said, Sanju, now you give it to him, boss,” Sanju Samson said.
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