Former India cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara backed Sanju Samson to retain his spot for the second T20I against England, advising the team management to give the wicketkeeper-batter a longer run.

Pujara argued that Samson has already proven his quality on the world stage and should not be dropped to make way for the 15-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

"I think India should persist with Sanju Samson. I don't think he should be feeling any pressure. He has proved himself in the T20 World Cup and, with the kind of talent he possesses, he should be there in the playing XI."

"There shouldn't be a lot of noise about dropping Sanju Samson. He is a quality player and should get a longer run. Sanju just needs to bat naturally and not think too much," Pujara said on JioStar.

While Pujara acknowledged the hype around Sooryavanshi, he stressed that a debut should not come by disrupting a settled and winning top order.

According to Pujara, the teenager will have to wait his turn as the established top three of Samson, Abhishek Sharma, and Ishan Kishan performed brilliantly in India’s triumphant T20 World Cup campaign earlier this year.

"If Vaibhav needs to play, he should play, but not at the expense of dropping someone, rather by resting someone. If you want to give him an opportunity, that is fine. But you shouldn't be dropping any of India's top three players, whether it's Sanju, Abhishek or Ishan Kishan. Having said that, Vaibhav does deserve an opportunity, and his opportunity will come," he remarked.

Pujara also commended captain Shreyas Iyer for playing a mature and responsible innings of 47-ball 68 in the rain-affected first T20I in Chester-le-Street, rescuing India from an early top-order collapse.

“It was an important knock from Shreyas Iyer and, when you are leading the team, you always look to lead from the front. He showed a lot of maturity because India were in trouble after losing a couple of early wickets,” Pujara stated.

The second T20I of the five-match series is slated to take place at Old Trafford, Manchester on Saturday (July 4).