T20 World Cup 2026: The improbable comeback of Team India star Sanju Samson

New Delhi: A player from Kerala is included in the Indian team for the T20 series against Zimbabwe. He tours Zimbabwe. He doesn't get a chance in the first match, but is included in the playing eleven in the second match on July 19, 2015, earning his international debut cap. In this match, he bats at number 7 and scores 19 runs in 24 balls, including one four. India faces a target of 146 runs, but manages to reach only 135 against Zimbabwe, losing the match by 10 runs. The blame for this defeat is placed on Sanju Samson. After this match, Sanju Samson isn't dropped for one match, one series, or one year; instead, he has to wait for nearly five years and 79 matches.

On January 10, 2020, after five years, he gets a chance to play T20 International cricket again. He takes the field against Sri Lanka in Pune. He hits a six off the first ball and is dismissed off the next. However, he is not included in the first two matches of the series. He is then selected for the T20 series in New Zealand. He plays two matches there and is dropped because he did not score any runs in those matches. After February, he gets a chance again in December, but is dropped again.

What has been Sanju Samson's comeback story?

In July 2021, he gets another chance. He plays three matches against Sri Lanka, fails, and is dropped from the team. Sanju returns again in February 2022, this time scoring some runs. Then comes the IPL, and he remains in the team even after that, but plays only three matches in June and August. He is not selected for the T20 World Cup in October-November. During this period, he scores only one half-century. In January 2023, he plays one match and is ruled out of the team due to injury.

He returns in August 2023 and plays seven matches, but his performance still doesn't match his previous performances in the IPL or domestic cricket. During this time, he neither gets a chance in India's ODI World Cup squad nor is he selected for the Asian Games. He then plays one match again in January 2024. However, he is selected for the T20 World Cup 2024, which follows the IPL, but Rishabh Pant plays ahead of him, leaving Samson without a single match in the entire tournament. Then comes October 2024, where Samson's fortunes turn, but his career could have ended at that time.

Was Sanju Samson's career in danger?

In fact, the Bangladesh team visits India in October. Samson flops in the first two matches of that series, and it's said that he won't get a chance in the final match, and that his career is over. If he gets a chance in the final match and fails to score, he'll be out of the team forever, because comebacks and opportunities like these are rare in international cricket, especially against a team like India. He's had 32 chances so far, scoring two half-centuries. In most of the matches, his scores were in single digits.

India played the final match of the series against Bangladesh in Hyderabad, which is a career-defining match for Sanju Samson. In this match, Sanju scored 111 runs from 47 balls, saving his career. In the next series, against South Africa, Sanju scored a century in the first match. However, he was again dismissed for zero in the next two matches, but the silver lining was that he scored a century in the fourth match as well. India continued to win. The pairing of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson looked formidable.

Did Sanju Samson's flop show continue?

Now comes January 2025, where he scores 51 runs in a five-match T20 series against England. India then had to play the Asia Cup. In that Asia Cup, played in September, the selectors gave Shubman Gill a chance as an opener and appointed him vice-captain. Sanju was asked to play the role of match finisher, but he failed. Gill's batting also failed. Sanju scored a half-century in the Asia Cup and played a good innings of 24 runs in the final against Pakistan, but he was not appreciated because he batted at number three in one match.

Australia tour comes, and he plays two matches there in October. He comes to bat in one and scores only two runs. Then he is dropped from the five-match T20 series at home against South Africa. During this period, Gill opened with Abhishek, but in the last match of the series, the opening position was taken away from Gill and given to Sanju, which was Sanju's comeback. In that match, he scored 37 runs in 22 balls. After this, the team was selected for the T20 World Cup 2026. The same team was also to play a five-match T20 series against New Zealand.

Now, the selectors had moved on from Shubman Gill. He was dropped, and Ishan Kishan was selected as the backup opener and backup wicketkeeper. The vice-captaincy was handed to Axar Patel. Sanju Samson was the main opener and main wicketkeeper. In January of this year, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma opened the innings in the five-match T20 series, but Samson managed to score only 46 runs in five matches. This happened in the final match. It is reported that Samson is stripped of his gloves and Ishan Kishan is made the wicketkeeper in the final match.

How did Sanju Samson rise?

The reason behind this was that Ishan Kishan played at number three in the series and won everyone's hearts with his strong innings. Justice for Sanju Samson was in great form during this period, but when Samson was not performing, he was dropped. T20 World Cup 2026 begins, and now the main opener and main wicketkeeper is Ishan Kishan, who plays the first match of T20 World Cup 2026 in Mumbai. However, Sanju gets a chance in the next match because Abhishek Sharma is not fit. Sanju is out after scoring 22 runs in 8 balls against Namibia in Delhi.

After this, he is dropped again because Abhishek Sharma returns. He spends three more matches on the bench, but when India loses the Super 8 match against South Africa due to their left-handed batsmen, the management tries Sanju Samson to introduce a right-handed and left-handed combination at the opening position. Surya's name during the toss was audible. Sanju Samson scores 24 runs off 15 balls against Zimbabwe in the Super 8 match, giving India a solid start, with India posting a score of over 250.

Now comes the final Super 8 match, dubbed the virtual quarter-final, where India faces a target of 196 runs. India had never chased even a 180-run target in a T20 World Cup. India gets off to a poor start, but Sanju Samson holds one end up flawlessly, maintains the run rate, and scores an unbeaten 97, leading the team to victory. The second-highest individual score in this match was 27 for India. India had now reached the semi-finals.

In the semi-finals, Team India faced England. India had to bat first in Mumbai. Here again, Abhishek Sharma was dismissed early, but Sanju Samson, taking advantage of a life, played an innings of 89 runs and, with just four innings, he was included in the list of Player of the Tournament nominees. In the semi-finals too, India scored 250+ runs and won the match by 7 runs. In the final, Sanju again played an innings of 89 runs and played a key role in taking the team to 250+. India won the title by a huge margin. Sanju Samson was named Player of the Tournament. Thus, the comeback king, after being in and out of the team, became a superstar of Team India.