During the Asia Cup 2025 in UAE, Shubman Gill’s return to the T20I fold as vice-captain saw Sanju Samson losing his spot at the top of the order.

After receiving some chances in the middle-order, the wicketkeeper-batter was completely sidelined from the playing XI, with Jitesh Sharma being given the first preference because of his match finishing abilities.

As Gill failed to hit a half-century in 15 innings, Samson was reinstated as India’s first-choice opener but the latter hasn’t been able to make opportunities count in the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand, returning with scores of 10, 6, 0 and 24 in four innings so far.

Reflecting on Samson’s run of poor scores, former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin suggested that the glovesman is playing under a lot of pressure and with a clouded mind, which is causing him to struggle with picking the right line and length.

“If you are not a good player, you cannot reach here. When your mind is clouded with a lot of thoughts, it gets tough to pick the lengths and lines. I am very certain things are going on in his mind,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

“We cannot make a slot for a player. It is not about running with a player and banking on it. It is also important to tell the player to take a break. Sometimes sitting outside and reflecting can make you a better player. I don’t agree that he should go back to the middle order. You cannot make a slot for a player; then everybody else will also rotate around it.”

It remains to be seen if Samson gets one more chance to prove his worth in the series finale or the team management tries out Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma at the top ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026, starting February 7.

Ashwin acknowledged that Samson is walking a fine line and must be under pressure after Kishan’s dazzling exploits in this series.

He remarked, “They are bowling on the middle and leg to Sanju because he does not have a back-and-across movement. It is really getting to a point that it is pushing players. He has been pushed to a place where he has to show the bowlers something else. He is trying to do something because he is uncomfortable with the plan being dealt out to him. He has been pushed into a corner but is willing to try. He is trying to respond. Maybe you will not get the result immediately. This might take time, but he is at least thinking about how to put pressure on the bowlers. That is a good sign. But he is walking a fine line, and there is pressure with Ishan sitting in the dugout.”

The fifth and final T20I will be held in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday (January 31).