Amid the busy IPL 2026 season, with two teams already eliminated and the playoff race heating up, Sanju Samson, Chennai Super Kings’ newest hero, opened up about the emotional fallout of losing his spot to Ishan Kishan in the Indian playing XI right before the T20 World Cup, and how he eventually made peace with it.
Samson became a last-minute inclusion in the T20 World Cup squad, alongside Ishan, after the selectors pulled the plug on their Shubman Gill plan. Having slipped out of contention for a place in the XI for almost three months before the World Cup announcement, Samson was given an opportunity after his return during the home series against New Zealand in January. But a string of low scores, while Ishan enjoyed a superb comeback, eventually led to Samson losing his place in the starting XI.
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“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.
“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 added.
Samson further revealed that the decisive moment came when Ishan scored a century in Trivandrum. Although the confirmation on his fate came much later, Samson admitted he knew by the end of the series that his opportunity had slipped away. He recalled having made peace with the fact that Ishan was the deserving batter to take over the opening role for the World Cup.
“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 said.
Samson turned things around
And so it happened. Samson found himself on the bench for the better part of the World Cup, until the management turned to him when opponents exposed India’s frailty against off-spin. The right-hander not only helped counter that weakness, but also made the most of the opportunity by scoring over 320 runs in just five innings, including fifties in both the semifinal and the final. Samson was eventually named the Player of the Tournament for his performances, which helped India retain the trophy.