Sanju Samson emerged as one of the defining figures of the T20 World Cup, scripting a dramatic turnaround in the latter half of the tournament. His unbeaten 97, followed by two commanding knocks of 89 in successive games, underlined his impact when it mattered most. Samson rose to the occasion in a must-win clash against the West Indies, carried that form into the semi-final against England, and capped it off in the title clash vs New Zealand.
He began the tournament outside the preferred XI, but once handed an opportunity, momentum swung his way. Samson seized the moment and delivered performances that left a lasting imprint on India’s triumphant campaign. The past 12 months have been a roller coaster for him. He was first pushed down the batting order to make room for Shubman Gill and later lost his place in the middle order as well. In the build-up to the T20 World Cup, he was drafted in as an opener, only to see the spot go to Ishan Kishan soon after. The narrative shifted once more during the tournament when India faced a top-order wobble. He returned to the opening role, and from there, fortunes turned sharply in his favour.
Weighing in on the handling of team combinations and selection calls, Sanjay Manjrekar criticised the decisions around Samson’s role, questioning the logic behind reshuffling the batting order at a crucial phase.
“With Sanju Samson, I think there were serious blunders committed. One is when Sanju Samson seemed to have come of age and recently got three T20 international hundreds in five innings against teams like South Africa. He was actually dropped down the order a few matches later, just after four or five innings, because Shubman Gill in England had a tremendous Test series. It just warped logic that because Shubman Gill played so well in Test cricket, he was reinstated, he was recalled to the Indian T20 team, and what’s worse, Sanju Samson, who was at the top of the order, was pushed down the order to make way for Shubman Gill,” Sanjay Manjrekar said on Instagram.
Pointing to how role changes affected consistency and confidence, Manjrekar said the shifting batting position disrupted Samson’s rhythm and gradually pushed him out of the team setup.
“Sanju Samson lost a bit of rhythm in the Asia Cup. He was batting down the order, maybe playing one inning [actually four innings, scoring 132 runs while Gill managed 127 in seven innings] and became dispensable and eventually lost his place in the playing XI,” he added.
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“Rest is history”
Explaining how unexpected changes opened the door again, Manjrekar described the sequence of events that reshaped the batting order and handed Samson another opportunity.
“Now, this is where fate comes in. Rinku Singh’s absence [actually Abhishek Sharma- due to illness] in one of the games [against Namibia] got Sanju Samson to come back in and Tilak Varma was struggling at No. 3 was pushed down the order [against Zimbabwe] and that is why Ishan Kishan was batting at No. 3. He could bat at No. 3 and Sanju Samson got that spot, which should’ve been his right through at the top of the order and as they the rest is history,” Manjrekar added.
