Sanju Samson has been chosen as opener for India for NZ series and T20 World Cup 2026.
Samson made the most of his chance in Ahmedabad on Friday, the day before India named their 15-man T20 World Cup 2026 roster, after missing seven straight games that India had played since the Australia tour.
Vice-captain Shubman Gill, who had taken Samson's place as Abhishek Sharma's opening partner in September 2025, was surprisingly left out by the BCCI selectors. Gill managed poorly in 15 innings, including only 32 runs in 3 innings in the recent T20Is against South Africa. Samson replaced Gill as India's opener in the final T20I and smashed a quick 37 in India’s win.
Srikkanth, however, had a word of caution for Samson, who struck a quickfire 37 in India’s fifth T20I win in Ahmedabad last Friday.
“He batted really well. What an innings it was. Some of the strokes he played were brilliant. When he is striking, he is striking deadly. The only thing I will tell Sanju is, don’t get out on 37. Convert that 37 into 73. If you do that, you can’t be removed. People forget 30s and 40s.
Sanju Samson got one chance, and he grabbed it in yesterday’s match. I think they might have told him [Gill] yesterday that you don’t play. Maybe that’s why he was declared unfit. They might have told him that he’s not in the team,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
Srikkanth said that if captain Suryakumar Yadav also finds his form again, India might be a formidable batting combination at the World Cup.
“He [Pandya] was batting like ‘Mission Impossible’. It was just outstanding to watch him bat. If you look at the top five, if Suryakumar Yadav hits form, this batting line-up will destroy opponents. It is an intimidating and devastating batting line-up,” the former India captain added.