Former India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has ruled out the opportunity of Ishan Kishan replacing Sanju Samson at the highest of the order for the 2026 T20 World Cup. Samson struggled with the bat for the second consecutive match within the second T20I against Recent Zealand, while Kishan shone with a superb 76 off just 32 balls.
Kishan’s innings powered India to chase down a difficult 209 in only 16 overs. With Tilak Varma expected to return from injury by the top of the series ahead of the T20 World Cup, India faces a variety dilemma with several options available.
Despite speculation that Kishan could take over as India’s wicketkeeping opener alongside Abhishek Sharma, Ashwin dismissed the thought on his YouTube channel, stating:
“It’s way too early to think about 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 need to tell the way it’ll end for India. It’s not ideal contained in the dressing room. There’s loads of competition for places, but it surely’s too early for this variation.”
“Bench him, and also you’ll never see his best.” – R. Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin stood by Sanju Samson despite his consecutive failures in the continued Recent Zealand series, saying that dropping him could be unjust. The correct-hander had a stellar 2024 in T20Is, scoring three centuries in 13 matches with a median of 43.60 and a strike rate of 180.16, before struggling within the 2025 season.
“It’ll be very unfair. This opening combination has been reverted just for the last two games. A player has got out playing an attacking shot. For those who penalize him for that and bench him, how will you witness one of 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 it is best to instinctively bat, but it surely just didn’t go his way,” said Ashwin (via the aforementioned source).
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