Sanju Samson’s poor form continued and he did not have a good homecoming in the fifth and final T20I against New Zealand in Thiruvananthapuram. Samson only managed to get a thick outside edge to the deep third fielder as he attempted to hit a six across the line, and fell for just six runs. The wicketkeeper batsman has faced a tough time in five T20I matches in 2026.
Sanju Samson scored only 46 runs in 5 innings. He continued to show his weak batting. This is one of the worst forms for the batsman, who overtook his own unwanted record for India exactly 12 months ago, when repeated short-ball plans proved to be his failing record in five matches against England, where he could manage only 51 runs.
‘I think now it has almost doubled in 12 months’- Aakash Chopra
Former India opener Aakash Chopra criticized Sanju Samson’s poor batting performance just ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026. He also highlighted the same kind of outing pattern for the batsman, which is very unusual at the international level.
Chopra said in a discussion on ESPNcricinfo, “I think it’s happened twice now in about 12 months. It all started with that England series. Very rarely do you get a top-class batsman developing a pattern, especially in the shortest format of the game. He got out five times in the same fashion – the short ball caught in the deep. Here too, if you look at the pace versus his dismissals, there’s a strange pattern to it.”
“You go deep inside the crease even before the ball is bowled. You try to play the ball, but the front foot has nowhere to go. As a result, your bat is actually off whenever you play. He was lucky with the outside edge once in Thiruvananthapuram. In the last game, he again had the bat off a little early, so again a pattern has developed.”
Sanju Samson will have to lose his place
Sanju Samson finds himself in a very difficult situation. Because after poor performance, the keeper-batsman may once again lose his place in the Indian team. Ishan Kishan, who carried his excellent domestic form to international cricket, scored 215 runs in the series against New Zealand. He was the second highest run scorer in the series after captain Suryakumar Yadav.
Kishan, who is also a wicketkeeper and can open the innings, was seen doing glovework in the final T20 match on Saturday. This clearly indicates that India may try their hand on southpaw Sanju Samson. There is less than a week left for the T20 World Cup to start, so this could be an alarm bell for Samson.
Also read: Sanju Samson dropped from India’s playing eleven for T20 World Cup 2026, BCCI selector announced
Three left-handed players will land at the top of India’s list
As things stand, Ishan Kishan is the favorite to open along with Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Verma, who are expected to be fit and join the team before the major event, and could bat at No. 3 for India. So all three of them will be left-handed players in the top 3 for the Men in Blue.
We need to wait and see what combination India goes with in the first game against America.