At the start of T20 World Cup 2026, little did Sanju Samson know that he would not only play a crucial role in India’s most important matches of the T20 World Cup 2026 but will also will be named the Player of the Tournament. After all, the Kerala keeper-batter had a bumpy ride leading up to the tournament – from losing his spot in the playing XI to facing demotion and what not. However, in his words, god had other plans and it has turned out that he is here to stay in the Indian team after his heroics.
Samson has now solidified his position at the top of the order in the T20i setup with consistent performances. What this has done is it has put him at a position where the team management must think more than twice before even contemplating to remove him from the line-up. Samson cannot be done away with that easily as he was done so in the recent past.
Samson to stay on in Team India
After warming the bench in the T20 World Cup 2026 opener against the USA, Samson got an opportunity in the game against Namibia as Abhishek Sharma was down due to illness. In that game, he only managed to 22 runs. He was then benched for the rest of the group stage. The Indian team management was forced to call back Sanju to the playing XI in their Super 8 tie against Zimbabwe as Sharma’s poor form was becoming a burden for India. In that game, he only scored 24 runs, casting further aspersions on his future in T20Is.
However, his turnaround was remarkable. In the next three games (which included a must-win Super 8 tie vs South Africa, a semi-final against England, and the final against New Zealand), Samson went on to play three back-to-back match winning innings. He registered scores of 97*, 89 and 89, playing match-winning knocks to get India across the line in all the crucial contests.
Samson finished the T20 WC 2026 with 321 runs to his name from 5 innings, averaging 80.25 and boasting of a strike rate of 199.37. With this sort of heroics, Samson is going nowhere from Team India in the near future and has cemented his position as an opener.
What happens to Jaiswal, Gill?
Samson had created history last year by becoming the only Indian cricketer to smash three hundreds in a calendar year. Despite that, he lost his role as an opener to Shubman Gill in Asia Cup 2025. He was asked to bat down the order, somewhere he wasn’t comfortable doing so. In Australia, he was a part of the squad but warmed the bench throughout.
Sanju had a miserable series against New Zealand right before the T20 WC which made him feel that his T20I career was all but over. However, his heroics in the last three games of the tournament tells a completely different story – Samson is not finished.
Samson’s red-hot form means Gill’s inclusion in India’s T20I setup could be further delayed. After all, he was dropped from the T20 World Cup squad owing to his poor form in the shortest format of the game. After Samson’s heroics, it is all but certain that he will be out of the reckoning for a further period of time.
Sanju’s form will also hamper Yashasvi Jaiswal’s chances of making it to the T20I XI. He has waited for long and is talented no doubt. But India have found a stable set of openers in the form of Samson and Sharma and hence, wouldn’t want to tinker with the combination. Therefore, his wait too continues.
Sanju Samson here to stay after T20 World Cup heroics, what happens to Gill & Jaiswal? Inside Sport India.
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