Team India has been in brilliant form in the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand. The two sides have locked horns across two T20Is so far, and both matches have been won by the Men in Blue. While there have been several star performers across the two matches, the performances of opener Sanju Samson have come under the radar.
After failing to perform in the first two T20Is of the series, many have opined that Samson should be replaced with Ishan Kishan as the opener with the T20 World Cup 2026 approaching.
However, the same opinion did not sit well with former India international Ravichandran Ashwin. Taking centre stage, Ashwin opined that the Indian team should continue to back Samson.
"It's way too early to think of dropping him. If India keeps doing such circus acts by playing Sanju when he did well before, and now Kishan because he's playing well now, I don't have to tell how it'll end for India. It's not ideal inside the dressing room. There is a lot of competition for places, but it's too early for this change,” Ashwin said in a video on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin highlighted the unfair treatment against Samson
Furthermore, Ashwin talked about how dropping Samson would be completely unfair to him. The all-rounder opened up on how Samson was dismissed in an attempt to play an attacking shot, and benching him for the mistake would not help him bring the best out of himself.
"It'll be very unfair. This opening combination has been reverted only for the last two games. A player has got out playing an attacking shot. If you penalise him for that and bench him, how will you witness the best of that player? It wasn't that there was a rush of blood or that he wasn't calm. He just saw the ball and went for it ( 2nd T20I dismissal). That's how you should instinctively bat, but it just didn't go his way," said Ashwin.
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