T20 World Cup 2026 saw a change in the Indian squad where Ishan Kishan returned to the blue jersey and Shubman Gill, the team’s vice-captain in the format, was dropped as well. Meanwhile, Sanju Samson was in great form but he was also dropped from the playing XI in the middle phase, and Ishan Kishan opened alongside Abhishek Sharma.

“Honestly, Ishan Kishan came into the squad out of nowhere. He had a great Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he won the championship for Jharkhand and he has also had a great story, boss,” Samson said on the CSK podcast with Abhinav Mukund.

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“We only look at ourselves, right? I think I have worked day in and day out, but lately I felt like Ishan had also done the same. After what happened to him for the last two years – he was out of the system – he worked so hard in domestic cricket and worked his way back. He had started scoring runs and I can admit it on camera that I could feel he was coming for my spot,” Samson further added.

Samson even added that Ishan’s performances were such that he told himself that he deserved a spot over him in the playing XI as well.

“In Trivandrum, when he scored that hundred, I was like, ‘Sanju, now you just give it to him, boss. He deserves it more than you do. You got your chances, you didn’t score runs, but there is someone who is in tremendous form.’ He came out of the Mushtaq Ali Trophy, did everything right to reach there and then scored a century just before the World Cup started. So now I think, ‘Sanju, you just leave it,'” Samson concluded.