A big debate has started around Sanju Samson’s place in India’s T20I team, and this time the criticism is loud and serious following his horrible New Zealand series at home. Former India pacer Sudeep Tyagi has openly questioned why Sanju Samson is still getting chances despite a long run of poor form.
Sanju Samson’s shocking numbers raise alarm before T20 World Cup 2026
Samson has been struggling badly with consistency in T20I cricket since January 2025 despite being given a long run as an opener. After a dream year in 2024, where he smashed three T20I hundreds and looked unstoppable, his form has completely dipped in 2025 and 2026.
In 2015, Samson scored only 238 runs at an average of 17.00 and a strike rate of 126.59 with only one century. The Indian wicketkeeper-batter’s worst phase came during the recent T20I series against New Zealand in January 2026, where he managed only 46 runs in five matches, averaging just 9.20.
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Since January 2025, the Kerala star has averaged only 12.8 in his last ten T20I innings as an opener. Out of nine innings at the top, he crossed the powerplay only twice, which raised serious concerns as the Indian cricket team is gearing up to defend the T20 World Cup title at home and in Sri Lanka.
Ishan Kishan’s comeback puts Samson under pressure
This poor form has put Samson’s place in the T20 World Cup 2026 squad in danger, especially as the comeback batter Ishan Kishan is performing exceptionally well.
Kishan has made a strong comeback and scored 215 runs at an impressive average of over 54 and a blistering strike rate of 231.18.
The Bihar lad also struck a century against New Zealand. Given Ishan’s stunning form, Tyagi feels the in-form wicketkeeper deserves a place in the Playing XI at the mega event. The former Indian pacer admitted that Samson is a talented batter, but runs are not coming.
Sudeep Tyagi slams Sanju Samson’s poor form
Tyagi pointed out that the right-handed batter has already got enough chances and failed to deliver, so it is high time for the team management to bench Sanju.
Sudeep Tyagi said in an exclusive interview with CricketAddictor, “I think Sanju Samson is a good player. He is a talented player, but you have to convert talent into performance. That is very important. And he has already been given so many matches.
But he is not performing. Whatever the reasons are, sometimes players don’t perform. It doesn’t mean that he is a bad player. He is a very good player. But his form is not there yet.”
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Talent means nothing without runs: Tyagi mocks Sanju Samson, backs Ishan Kishan
Furthermore, the former Indian pacer brutally trolled Samson by saying that talent means nothing without performance. Even Tyagi has claimed that Ishan deserves the spot in India XI right now, not Sanju, following his stellar comeback in the national colours.
Tyagi added, “And another thing is that when Ishan made a comeback, he made a great comeback. So, you can’t ignore him either. So, it’s a good, healthy competition. But I think Ishan Kishan should play at this time because he is performing well.
And I believe that no matter how talented you are, if you are not performing, that talent is nothing. They should bring Ishan Kishan to the top.”