World Cup hero to sidelines: Why does Samson keep falling out of favour?

Since making his debut in 2015, Samson has repeatedly fought his way into the Indian side, only to lose his place again months later, despite producing match-winning performances

Just four months ago, Sanju Samson appeared to have finally answered one of the longest-running selection debates around his international career, after years of drifting in and out of the national side, the wicketkeeper-batter emerged as the Player of the Tournament in India's triumphant 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup campaign, playing defining knocks in the knockout stages as India successfully defended the T20 world title and supposedly cemented his place in India's playing XI.

 

However, fast forward to July 2026, and the situation has changed quickly. After losing his place in India's T20I XI during the England series to 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Samson has now been omitted from the squad for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour, reviving questions over the 31-year-old's place in India's white-ball plans despite being one of the architects of the World Cup triumph.

 

 

Chief selector Ajit Agarkar has insisted Samson has been "rested" rather than dropped, adding that the selectors have not moved on from the Kerala batter. While the official explanation suggests Samson remains firmly in India's plans, the latest omission has inevitably reopened a familiar debate.

 

Since making his debut in 2015, Samson has repeatedly fought his way into the Indian side, only to lose his place again months later.

A decade of promise, but no permanence

Few cricketers have experienced a more stop-start T20I career than Sanju Samson.

 

When he made his debut against Zimbabwe in 2015, Samson was regarded as one of India's brightest young talents. However, breaking into India's white-ball side proved far more difficult than breaking into the IPL.

 

During the latter half of the Virat Kohli era, the batting order remained largely settled, while the wicketkeeping role was occupied first by MS Dhoni and later by Rishabh Pant. KL Rahul's emergence as a wicketkeeper-batter further reduced opportunities.

 

Samson's challenge, however, wasn't limited to competition. Whenever opportunities arrived, he struggled to make them count consistently. Between 2020 and 2023, his performances fluctuated sharply. He averaged 10.66 in 2020, 11.33 in 2021 and 15.60 in 2023, with only 2022 standing out as a productive year, when he averaged 44.75. Those returns made it difficult for selectors to persist with him despite his obvious talent.

 

The numbers also explain why Samson's international career rarely gathered momentum. Every comeback was followed by another lean patch, while every lean patch coincided with another wicketkeeper making a stronger claim. By the end of 2023, Samson remained one of India's most gifted T20 batters, but not one of its undisputed first-choice players.

 

Sanju Samson's T20I numbers by year:

Season	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Avg	SR	100s	50s
2015	1	1	0	19	19	19	79.16	0	0
2019/20	3	3	0	16	8	5.33	133.33	0	0
2020/21	3	3	0	48	23	16	141.17	0	0
2021	3	3	0	34	27	11.33	94.44	0	0
2021/22	3	2	0	57	39	28.5	154.05	0	0
2022	3	3	1	122	77	61	160.52	0	1
2022/23	1	1	0	5	5	5	83.33	0	0
2023	7	5	1	73	40	18.25	132.72	0	0
2023/24	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2024	5	4	1	70	58	23.33	122.8	0	1
2024/25	12	12	1	417	111	37.9	183.7	3	0
2025	7	4	0	132	56	33	124.52	0	1
2025/26	13	12	1	406	97*	36.9	183.71	0	3
2026	3	3	0	6	5	2	50	0	0

The numbers finally changed

By the beginning of 2024, Samson had reached a defining stage of his international career. He was finally given another chance as India's opener following Rohit Sharma's retirement from T20 cricket.

 

At 29, another inconsistent season could have pushed him further down India's pecking order. Instead, he produced the strongest performances of his T20I career.

 

The transformation was reflected both in the volume of runs and the manner in which they came. Samson scored 436 runs in 2024 at an average of 43.60 and a strike rate of 180.16, registering three T20I centuries during the year. More importantly, he looked like a batter who had finally learnt to balance aggression with consistency, giving India the explosive starts the team management had long sought at the top of the order.

 

He once again stumbled a little in the latter half of 2025 and was immediately replaced by Shubman Gill as the opener. But, as luck would have it, Samson got another chance after Gill failed to impress with his numbers, and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

 

Samson retained his place as India's preferred wicketkeeper-batter during the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup and justified the management's faith with crucial contributions throughout the tournament.

 

His performances in the knockout stages and the last Super Six match against the West Indies, in a do-or-die situation for the defending champions, earned him the Player of the Tournament award, appearing to settle the debate over India's first-choice wicketkeeper heading into the next white-ball cycle.

 

So why is Samson out again?

On the face of it, Samson's omission appears difficult to explain. A player who finished as the Player of the Tournament at the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup has found himself out of the playing XI within weeks of helping India lift the trophy.

 

The selectors, however, have offered a different explanation. While announcing the squad for the Zimbabwe series, chief selector Ajit Agarkar clarified that Samson had been "rested" and insisted India had not moved on from the wicketkeeper-batter. The statement suggests the management continues to view Samson as part of its long-term plans rather than someone who has lost favour permanently.

 

Even so, the optics inevitably fuel a familiar debate. Samson first lost his place in the XI during the England series before missing out on the Zimbabwe squad altogether. Whether termed a rest or rotation, it represents another interruption in an international career that has repeatedly swung between breakthroughs and setbacks.

 

The timing has also worked against him. Following the World Cup, Samson managed scores of 5, 0 and 1 across the Ireland and England series, while Ishan Kishan remained in the selectors' plans after returning to the T20I setup ahead of the World Cup. At the same time, the emergence of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has given India another aggressive top-order option, adding further competition to an already crowded batting line-up.

 

Unlike previous phases of his career, Samson's latest challenge is therefore not solely about his own performances. It is also about finding a place in one of the most competitive T20 squads India have assembled.

India has changed too

Samson's career has also coincided with a significant shift in India's T20 selection philosophy.

 

For much of the previous decade, India's white-ball teams were built around a settled core, with changes usually driven by injuries or poor form. Since the 2022 T20 World Cup, however, the selectors have adopted a far more flexible approach, regularly rotating players, assigning specialist roles and expanding the player pool ahead of major ICC events.

 

That strategy helped India identify specialists for different phases of an innings during the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, but it has also made competition for places fiercer than ever before. Players are now judged not only on runs and wickets but also on the specific roles they perform within the team's overall strategy.

 

Samson's case reflects that shift. Earlier in his career, his biggest challenge was converting opportunities into consistent performances. Today, the challenge is different. Even after becoming one of India's leading T20 batters over the past two years, he finds himself competing with multiple players capable of performing similar roles.

 

That does not necessarily mean India have moved on from Samson. Rather, it highlights how difficult it has become for even established internationals to hold on to places in a squad where almost every position has multiple contenders.

Different phases, different reasons

It is tempting to view Samson's international career through a single lens — either as the story of a player repeatedly overlooked by selectors or as one who never fully justified the opportunities he received.

 

The reality lies somewhere in between. During the first phase of his career, between 2015 and 2023, the selectors had legitimate reasons to look elsewhere. Competition was intense and Samson's returns were too inconsistent to make him an automatic selection.

 

The second phase, beginning in 2024, told a different story. Backed consistently, Samson produced the best numbers of his international career, became India's preferred wicketkeeper-batter and capped his rise by winning the Player of the Tournament award at the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

 

The latest phase, however, is shaped by a different reality. Agarkar has publicly maintained that Samson has been rested rather than dropped, yet his omission comes at a time when India are beginning another transition, expanding the player pool and preparing for the next global cycle. That makes the current situation less about Samson's ability and more about where he fits within India's evolving plans.

Can Samson make another comeback?

Whether Samson can make another strong return is ultimately a matter of opinion, but his career has been shaped by this question again and again.

 

Initially, it was whether he could perform consistently enough to justify a longer run. He answered that question through his performances over the past two years. The latest challenge is different altogether.

 

Whether Samson returns for India's next assignment or not, his omission from the Zimbabwe tour showcases how India's white-ball setup has evolved. In a team blessed with extraordinary depth, even a World Cup hero is no longer guaranteed an extended run.

 

While Agarkar insists the selectors have not moved on from Samson, the latest episode has once again added another chapter to one of Indian cricket's most fascinating on-and-off international careers.