Photo by Rajasthan Royals (CC BY 3.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Sanju Samson powered India to a World Cup. Now the openers' debate needs a deadline

Sanju Samson walked out in Lucknow on Tuesday as the opener who had powered India to a World Cup. He walked back nine balls later with 11, out to Akeal Hosein, in a first T20I that India won by eight wickets on Shreyas Iyer's century.

The result changed nothing for India. It changed a good deal about the question hanging over Samson: how long does a tournament like his buy?

What the World Cup bought him

Samson's 2026 T20 World Cup was extraordinary by any measure. He made 321 runs in five innings at an average of 80.25 and a strike rate of 199.37, and was named Player of the Tournament.

Three innings decided India's route: an unbeaten 97 off 50 balls in the Super 8 at Eden Gardens, the highest score by an Indian in a T20 World Cup chase, passing Virat Kohli's 82 not out; 89 off 42 balls against England in the semi-final; and 89 off 46 in the final against New Zealand.

What has happened since

The figures since then tell a different story. Across his last 11 T20I innings Samson has 179 runs at 16.27, with scores of 5, 0, 1, 27, 10, 57, 50, 9, 7, 2 and now 11.

There were real innings in that run. His 57 off 22 balls in the second T20I against Afghanistan helped India chase 160 with 5.1 overs to spare and seal the series 2-0, after an 88-run opening stand with Abhishek Sharma.

But the Asian Games brought only seven in the semi-final and two in the final, nine runs across the tournament, even as India beat Pakistan by 19 runs to win gold. Hanuma Vihari said it plainly before the West Indies series: "Every series he plays now is a big series for him because he did not score runs in the Asian Games."

Patience, with a limit

The case for keeping faith is not sentimental. Cheteshwar Pujara said he would go with Samson and that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi "will definitely get opportunities", and Gautam Gambhir told Sooryavanshi to wait for his opportunity, with India continuing with Samson and Abhishek as openers.

A player who scored three match-deciding innings in one tournament has earned more than two or three bad matches of grace.

Grace is not the same as a guarantee, though. India play ten T20 internationals against West Indies and New Zealand in a compressed window, and Sooryavanshi impressed when he was given his opportunity at the Asian Games.

The sensible course is the one Vihari floated: give Samson this series, but let him and Sooryavanshi rotate, so that form rather than reputation settles the slot. Samson said after the Asian Games final that India "did not get the gold on a platter" and "had to really work hard for it".

The same is true of the opening place. Even a World Cup's worth of runs only secures a short lease on it.

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