Former India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has ruled out the possibility of Ishan Kishan replacing Sanju Samson at the top of the order for the 2026 T20 World Cup. Samson struggled with the bat for the second consecutive match in the second T20I against New Zealand, while Kishan shone with a brilliant 76 off just 32 balls.
Kishan’s innings powered India to chase down a challenging 209 in just 16 overs. With Tilak Varma expected to return from injury by the end of the series ahead of the T20 World Cup, India faces a selection dilemma with several options available.
Despite speculation that Kishan could take over as India’s wicketkeeping opener alongside Abhishek Sharma, Ashwin dismissed the idea on his YouTube channel, stating:
“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.”
“Bench him, and you’ll never see his best.” – R. Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin stood by Sanju Samson despite his consecutive failures in the ongoing New Zealand series, saying that dropping him would be unjust. The right-hander had a stellar 2024 in T20Is, scoring three centuries in 13 matches with an average of 43.60 and a strike rate of 180.16, before struggling in the 2025 season.
“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 penalize 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 (via the aforementioned source).
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