T20 World Cup, India vs South Africa: Is There a Route Back for Sanju Samson?

T20 World Cup 2026: While Sanju Samson batted for nearly two hours, Abhishek Sharma had a bowling role on Friday.

T20 World Cup, India vs South Africa: Will Sanju Samson return in India's playing XI?

(Photo: X)

Ever since India began their campaign at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, Sanju Samson has seldom enjoyed an extended stint with the bat in the nets. It has been evident that he does not feature prominently in coach Gautam Gambhir and his management’s plans for the playing XI. The lone exception was the match against Namibia. With Abhishek Sharma not available with illness in that fixture, Sanju Samson was seen batting for hours before the game, but that’s about it.

Until yesterday. On Friday, 20 February, India trained under lights at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where they will face the previous edition’s runners-up, South Africa, in their opening Super 8 clash on Sunday. And, it was an interesting session.

Sanju Samson & Abhishek Sharma’s Contrasting Net Sessions

The session began at 6 PM, and for nearly two hours of the three-hour training window, Samson batted alongside Ishan Kishan. The wicketkeeper-batter began his session by facing pacers, in the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh, before moving on to the spinners, wherein Abhishek Sharma was among the bowlers bowling to him.

Sharma himself had an intriguing outing. Although he has recovered from illness, the Indian opener — yet to score a run in his first three matches of this World Cup — bowled for nearly two and a half hours. Just when it appeared he would not bat at all, Sharma padded up around 8:34 PM, though by then he was largely facing net bowlers.

Sharma is only the third batter in the history of T20 World Cup to score three consecutive ducks in his first three innings in this competition, joining Uganda’s Roger Mukasa and a fellow Indian in Ashish Nehra in that list. In fact, the southpaw has recorded five ducks in his last seven T20I innings. Yet, with him being the number 1 T20I batter in the world, and for righteous reasons — 1297 runs in 41 T20Is at a strike rate of 192.43 speak volumes about his caliber — it will be a major risk to drop him.

When bowling coach Morne Morkel was asked about Sharma, he was confident in his response.

Abhishek is a world-class player. So far in the tournament, luckily there have been guys standing up for him, obviously while he hasn’t scored the runs he would have liked. But we’re going through a very important phase of the World Cup now, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to deliver — not just for the team, but also for all the viewers watching the game, because he’s entertaining and we love to see that. I’m sure he’s hitting them well in the nets. It’s just a matter of getting that start and getting his head fully into the game.

Morne Morkel

The Other Alternative

If India were to reintegrate Samson into the XI, the alternative would likely involve leaving out Tilak Varma, whose campaign has been underwhelming. While he has accumulated 106 runs in the tournament, his strike rate of 120.45 does not align with India’s aggressive batting template.

In fact, since 2025, Tilak is India’s second-highest run-scorer in T20Is, with 673 runs coming at an average of over 40. Though, his strike rate of 127.70 ranks him 11th on the list of Indians with a minimum of 50 T20I runs in this period.

On Friday, Tilak was not seen batting at the main ground nets, instead practising in the auxiliary nets outside the stadium. Notably, with Sunday’s pitch expected to be a black-soil surface, South Africa may opt for two specialist spinners in Keshav Maharaj and George Linde. Given Tilak’s strike rate of 127.4 against left-arm orthodox spin since 2025, he could be the one to make way.

Batting at number three should not be an issue for Samson, for while he has not had that role for India, his predominant batting position in the Indian Premier League has been three. This is also the position where he has scored most runs, with 3096 runs averaging 38.22 and striking at 143.33.