New Delhi: If there was any hope left for Sanju Samson to be picked in India’s playing XI, they all but ended after India decided to promote Ishan Kishan to open with Abhishek Sharma in the T20 World Cup warm-up match against South Africa at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai. Samson’s spot in the team has been under the scanner after five consecutive failures in the recently concluded T20I series against New Zealand.

Ishan Kishan’s sensational return to international cricket and Tilak Varma’s impending comeback have made Samson’s position even more untenable. The team management backed Samson despite the string of failures, but it seems their patience has run out.

At the coin toss, India captain Suryakumar Yadav announced that Ishan is opening with Abhishek, and indirectly indicated the way forward for India in the T20 World Cup 2026, starting in India and Sri Lanka on February 7.

While Samson failed to capitalise on his chances, Ishan grabbed the opportunity with both hands and made a strong international comeback with scores of 76, 28 and 103 after returning from a challenging phase that saw him dropped from a central contracts list.

Ishan was rewarded with an international return courtesy of a strong and consistent performance in domestic cricket. The Jharkhand batter has translated that form to international cricket and looks set to displace Samson from the opening spot in the T20 World Cup 2026.

Teams:

India (Batting XI, Fielding XI): Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav

South Africa (Batting XI, Fielding XI): Aiden Markram(c), Quinton de Kock, Ryan Rickelton(w), Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Jason Smith, David Miller, Marco Jansen, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada