India’s recent decision to drop Shubman Gill and back Sanju Samson as a key batting option has delivered confusion, with Samson struggling badly in the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand. On the other hand, Ishan Kishan is making a thunderous case for inclusion as the management faces uncomfortable questions.

Sanju Samson was handed a clear vote of confidence when the selectors chose to drop Gill and put faith in Samson as a long-term option. However, Samson's performance has been deeply disappointing. Across four matches, he has managed only 40 runs at an average of 10. 

Clearly, Samson has failed to seize the opportunity, making things complicated for India ahead of the T20I World Cup. Commenting on Samson's form, Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed the idea that pressure should serve as an excuse for Samson’s failures, pointing out that he has failed to take advantage of the opportunity. 

“Sanju Samson has played for many years. He started in the IPL middle-order, then became an opener. After playing international cricket for 10-12 years, pressure shouldn’t be an excuse. He has had four chances in this series. I can accept failure in one or two matches, but not in three or four. He knows someone like Ishan Kishan, who is the backup and is batting well at number three, is waiting. Sanju will blame himself,” Chahal said on JioHotstar.

The fifth and final T20I against New Zealand will be played on Saturday, and Chahal felt that it is up to the management to decide whether to hand Samson one more opportunity or place Ishan and Abhishek at the top of the order.

“He had four opportunities but could not make them count. However, there’s no need to feel too bad because the T20 World Cup is still far. There’s one more match against New Zealand. It now depends on the team management’s thinking. If they feel Sanju is struggling as an opener and Ishan is doing well at number three, then the right call would be to make Sanju sit out and let Ishan Kishan take his spot as the opener and wicketkeeper in the final T20I," he said.