Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar urged Sanju Samson to be “careful” after registering a low score in the T20I series opener against Ireland in Belfast on Friday. Shreyas Iyer’s tenure as captain got off to a bad start as India went down by 34 runs against Ireland in the first match of the two-game series, and the clamour is now growing further for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to be included in the playing XI for the second T20I at the same venue on Sunday.
In the series opener, the Indian management stuck with the T20 World Cup 2026 winning duo of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson. Sooryavanshi was made to wait for his debut, and it remains to be seen if the 15-year-old gets to make history on Sunday.
Samson, who was the Player of the T20 World Cup, lasted just four balls in the middle, scoring five runs. After India’s loss, Manjrekar urged both Samson and Abhishek not to take anything lightly as Sooryavanshi is breathing down their neck after the fantastic IPL 2026 season, where he scored 776 runs for the Rajasthan Royals.
“But Sanju Samson needs to be careful because Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is breathing down his and Abhishek Sharma’s necks,” Manjrekar said on the Sony Sports Network.
However, Manjrekar was quick to point out that the result of the first T20I would not have been different even if Sooryavanshi had played. The former Indian batter added that there is no place at the top and the spots belong to Abhishek and Samson for now.
“I think he would have done what Abhishek did, slightly better, maybe. A chase where you had to do everything in the first six overs. You had to carry that momentum for the rest of the overs as well. So he could have made things a little easier in the chase, but the target became just too big, and conditions weren’t easy. And you saw in the tri-series in Dambulla as well how the sixes weren’t coming as often to him,” Manjrekar said.
‘And it was a reminder, and I’m very glad that you know I said that earlier as well, that people got an idea as to how sixes are not so easy to hit. So Vaibhav would have managed it in the first six overs, but he also would have had his work cut out later. And to answer your question, I don’t think it would have made that much of a difference unless you want to play him down the order. Middle order, there is some place there, but at the top, I don’t think there is any place,” he added.
Will India make changes?
Amid the growing clamour for Sooryavanshi, former Indian batter Paul Valthaty believes that India would not make any changes to their playing XI for the second T20I. He added that management should consider bringing Ravi Bishnoi back into the lineup.
“I think the Indian team might not skewer that way, where they might just continue with the same batting combination, because it also augurs out that there are no options in the bench strength which is available to them in Ireland,” said Valthaty.
“You’ve got only Suryansh Sjedge and the remaining all-rounders there. So, probably I just see a Ravi Bishnoi might sneak into the playing level, and that might just settle that, especially from over number six onwards, they might have a much smarter option in Bishnoi,” he added.