Former India all-rounder R Ashwin dismissed the idea of star India wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan possibly replacing Sanju Samson at the top for the 2026 T20 World Cup as well. While Samson failed with the bat once again against New Zealand, Kishan scored a brilliant 32-ball 76.

Ashwin said on his YouTube channel: “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.”

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However, R Ashwin backed Sanju Samson for his back-to-back failures in the ongoing New Zealand series, claiming that dropping him would be an unfair move as well.

“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,” R Ashwin concluded.