Drop Sanju Samson? Why Team India Should Not Do It

Drop Sanju Samson: Abhishek Sharma received a standing ovation at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium in the 5th T20I against England. He did earn it since the opener broke the record for the highest individual score by any Indian in the T20I format. With 13 sixes and his 135-run knock, India was able to post 247 runs in that glamorous night at Mumbai. Starting from the legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan to the former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Abhishek had everyone sitting on the edge of their seats as he broke several records in the T20I format.

Abhishek’s Poor Run

However, can’t help but mention that it is the same Abhishek Sharma whom most of the fans wanted out of the Indian side after the T20I series against South Africa. Abhishek’s poor run of scores after hitting a hundred against Zimbabwe put him in murky waters. There was not a feeling that Abhishek was not among the runs, but scores of 7, 4, 50, and 36 against the Proteas were nowhere near the lofty heights of Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma in that series.

Crickeeter-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra had said before the England series that Abhishek Sharma’s place in the Indian T20I side was hanging by a thread, and that one more failure would end in him being replaced by Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Same With Sanju Samson

Something similar seems to be happening with Sanju Samson at the moment. After three heroic centuries in the Bangladesh and South Africa series, Samson had a torrid time against England. England had a very simple plan against Samson: dig the ball short, angle it into his body, and then let Samson try to find his way out of trouble. It worked. Samson got out trying to pull a short ball 5 out of 5 times in the series.

It was only in the final T20I of the series that Samson had an antidote to England’s plan. He got inside the line of the ball and smacked 2 sixes in the first two overs through the leg side. But that was the end of that. The batter fell after scoring 16 runs.

Fans called for his head on social media, criticizing him for his mode of dismissals. Even former cricketer Kris Srikkanth called out Samson on his YouTube show.

“Going On An Ego Trip”

“Sanju Samson seems to have missed the bus. For the fifth time, getting out in the same manner. He has played a similar shot. I think he is trying to show his ego. He is trying to say ‘no, no, I will play this shot’. Is he going on an ego trip or struggling? I am not sure,” Srikkanth said.

“It’s very sad. I am disappointed. We spoke about why he was not picked in the Champions Trophy squad. If he continues playing like this, let’s say thank you, sorry, Yashasvi Jaiswal is back. In the next T20I match, Yashasvi automatically comes in, in my opinion,” he added.

But, is that the right way to look at the tally of the batters in a format as fickle as the T20Is?

WHY THE RAPID RISE AND RAPID FALL?

Under Gautam Gambhir’s regime, India has tried to play an aggressive brand of cricket. Amongst India’s 5 highest totals in the history of T20I cricket, three have come in the last 7 months — since Gambhir took over the team after the T20 World Cup 2024.

With the team playing an ultra-aggressive brand of cricket, there is no way that the batters can knock things around and try to protect their wicket. Speaking after the T20I series win, Gambhir said that India’s new mantra with the bat was to go as hard as they can with the bat. There was no need for anchoring the innings, given that they play with a total of 8 batters in their line-up.

“It is also about having the No. 8 batter, even if he doesn’t face too many balls because of the kind of cricket we are playing. We want to go as hard as possible, and sometimes that cushion of having that No. 8 would free up the top 7 more,” Gambhir said after the series win.

One can argue that not once in the series against England has Samson got out trying to defend the ball. In every single game, Samson has tried to play fire with fire, a brand of cricket that Gambhir wants this Indian team to play.

And if you are simply following the coach’s orders, why should you be thrown out of the team?

Drop Sanju Samson: Proving The Point

And once again, we come back to the Abhishek Sharma point. The batter, who was berated for being a failure post his century against Zimbabwe, is being celebrated now after his beyond-believable outings against England.

It also must be noted that India has won all these series. When Abhishek did not strike with the bat, Sanju did. When Sanju fell, Tilak Varma rose to the occasion. And when Tilak Varma failed, Hardik Pandya took up the mantle.
That’s what modern T20 cricket is: depth that can counterpunch an opposition and play without fear of failure.

Instead of the archaic discourse of dropping players after a poor patch of form, there needs to be a more nuanced argument while analyzing Samson’s performances.

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India has found a method that has helped them dominate every single series. Many in the current Indian team are the rejects from the previous regime. Samson, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, and Washington Sundar are out to prove people wrong and can become very dangerous players if given consistent chances in the line-up.

As India builds their team for the T20 World Cup 2026, the new-age, aggressive Indian team should be backed and not judged on the basis of one or two poor series in the run-up to the ICC tournament.