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India's Sanju Samson bowled out by New Zealand's Matt Henry during the third T20 cricket match between India and New Zealand in Guwahati, India, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Dejected and devastated, Sanju Samson staggered to the pavilion after his first-ball duck. The delivery from Matt Henry was not brutish, a straight ball, but with his international career on the line, runs utterly dried up, he pursued a nervous flick. His head was not still, like a man whose mind was muddled by a thousand thoughts. His hands and feet froze, as though he were a wax statue. Time, he perhaps, knew was running out. Or perhaps, it had already run out. With a phalanx of batsmen clutching on his heels, not least the exceptionally unfortunate Shreyas Iyer, Sanju’s career hangs on a thin thread of waning faith.
After scores of 10, 6 and 0 this series, there is nowhere for him to hide. He can’t argue that he was batting out of his favourite position; he can’t spit the excuse that he got a ripper of a ball, or the conditions favoured the seamers. It was just that he couldn’t handle the pressure; of finding the toughness when the going was rough; perhaps of the burden of expectations of a toxic fanbase back in his home-state Kerala; of maybe displacing the country’s captain in Tests and ODIs, Shubman Gill; or perhaps, for all his silken stroke-play, he doesn’t have the mental toughness to latch onto his breaks at this level.
Some phases of his career deserve empathy. Before the World Cup triumph, he barely got a consistent run in the format, constantly shuffling in and out of the side. He was unfortunate that he was shunted down the order when Gill returned. But the latest passage of pain deserves perhaps pity, at how he has squandered his opportunities, and how perhaps he would inherit the sceptre of unfulfilled renown.
The numbers make for damning reading. Since January 2025, he has averaged 17 in 14 outings at a middling strike rate of 126.59. The lone 50-plus total came against Oman. To those that contend that he has been batting down the order, thus choking his natural instincts, the lowest he has batted is at No 5 (and just thrice). Moreover, his game has ripping flaws against the fast bowlers.
The England seamers exploited his short-ball vulnerability last year. He perished while pulling, hooking and trying to defend. Any modicum of swing or seam movement disarrays him, as evidenced in Australia. Against New Zealand, even the standard straight balls are spooking him. His average against teams with quality pace attacks are abysmal (5.2 against New Zealand, 10.2 versus England, 12.5 versus Australia, and 18.5 against West Indies). The lone purple patch came against South Africa without Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje.
With the World Cup opener less than a fortnight away, his drought would vex the team management. Thankfully, India have a surplus of alternatives. It is as simple as opening with Ishan Kishan, even though that disrupts the trusted right-left combination the head coach Gautam Gambhir prefers, and slotting in Shreyas. Fate has been cruel to him in the shortest formats. Once he was touted as the captain-in-waiting, with his proven credentials in the IPL. His T20 numbers are commendable, if not spectacular; he scored a half-century in his last innings, a match-defining 53 against Australia, unfairly as far back as December 2023. He has more gears and know-how than Sanju. It wouldn’t be long before he would make his comeback in this series. For the World Cup, India’s regular No. 3 Tilak Varma, currently out with an abdominal injury, might return and reclaim his spot.
The last game of the series is in Thiruvananthapuram, his hometown. But it is unlikely that he would feature in the game. In a perverse sense that would be a relief to him and his feverish fans, that they wouldn’t see the favourite star struggling.
English (US) ·