Sanju Samson has made 10 and 6 in first two IND v NZ T20Is.
Former India spinner Ashwin has cautioned the Gautam Gambhir-led Indian team management not to drop Sanju Samson from the Indian XI for the upcoming matches. Ashwin called it a 'circus act' and warned that it would not end well for the environment inside the dressing room.
After spending months in the middle order to make room for Shubman Gill, Samson reverted to his preferred position as opener in the New Zealand T20I series. However, the first two games did not go well, with scores of 6 and 10.
Ishan Kishan, who got a chance to make his India comeback due to Tilak Varma’s injury, smashed a sensational 76 in the second T20I, and with Samson struggling, there are calls for Kishan to open with Abhishek Sharma and for Samson to be benched.
However, Ashwin stated that it is very early for India to drop Sanju Samson and bring Ishan Kishan as an opener, probably once Tilak Varma returns.
“It’s way too early to think of dropping him. If India keeps doing such circus acts by playing Sanju when he did well before, and now Kishan because he’s playing well now, I don’t have to tell how it’ll end for India. It’s not ideal inside the dressing room. There is a lot of competition for places, but it’s too early for this change,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Samson came out attacking the ball in the second Twenty20 International, Ashwin continued, and dismissing him would be like penalizing someone for being a team player.
“It’ll be very unfair. This opening combination has been reverted only for the last two games. A player has gotten out by playing an attacking shot. If you penalize him for that and bench him, how will you witness the best of that player? It wasn’t that there was a rush of blood or that he wasn’t calm. He just saw the ball and went for it. That’s how you should instinctively bat, but it just didn’t go his way," he said.
India leads the series 2-0, and the third T20I will be played on Sunday in Guwahati.