Sanju Samson, India's keeper-batter, has admitted that the inclusion of Ishan Kishan in India’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad meant that the Jharkhand batter-keeper was coming for his spot in the Indian XI.

Samson became India's first-choice opener after the selectors opted to drop then-vice-captain Shubman Gill, but a string of bad performances forced him out of the first-choice squad.

Ishan Kishan, who had previously been excluded from the T20 squad, was suddenly included following a blistering Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in which he struck a century in the final for Jharkhand and replaced Samson as opener soon before the T20 World Cup 2026 at home.

Now that Kishan is playing at his best in domestic cricket, Samson has spoken up about his feelings of nervousness while he wasn't making runs for India.

“Honestly, Ishan Kishan came into the squad out of nowhere. He had a great Mushtaq Ali Trophy; he won the championship for Jharkhand, and he has also had a great story, boss.

We only look at ourselves, right? I think I have worked day in and day out, but lately I felt like Ishan had also done the same. After what happened to him for the last two years—he was out of the system—he worked so hard in domestic cricket and worked his way back. He had started scoring runs, and I can admit it on camera that I could feel he was coming for my spot,” Samson told Abhinav Mukund on the CSK podcast.

Samson also spoke about when Kishan hit his maiden T20I century against New Zealand at Thiruvananthapuram just ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026. He stated that it was then that he made peace with the fact that Jharkhand batter was going to be the first-choice opener alongside Abhishek Sharma.

“In Trivandrum, when he scored that hundred, I was like, ‘Sanju, now you just give it to him, boss.' He deserves it more than you do. You got your chances; you didn’t score runs, but there is someone who is in tremendous form.’ He came out of the Mushtaq Ali Trophy, did everything right to reach there, and then scored a century just before the World Cup started. So now I think, ‘Sanju, you just leave it,’” Samson said.

However, India had to change their plans after defeat to South Africa in the Super 8s stage, and Samson played three amazing knocks as India became the T20 World Cup 2026 champions. Samson won the Player of the Tournament for his 321 runs in 5 games with 3 fifties and a strike rate of almost 200.