"Pressure is on Sanju": Aakash on India's potential top 3 after Ishan's destructive knock at Raipur

New Delhi [India], January 24 (ANI): Following India's win over New Zealand in the second T20I at Raipur, former Indian opener Aakash Chopra raised questions over Sanju Samson's poor run, saying that the pressure is on him to score runs; otherwise, it could be Ishan Kishan who could be playing the last two T20Is as an opener.
Dominant knocks from Ishan Kishan and skipper Suryakumar Yadav helped Team India secure a seven-wicket win over NZ, chasing down 209 runs in just 15.2 overs. However, within all the records and positives, once again hid the same old story: Samson getting his chances but not making the most of them. After a six against Matt Henry in the first over, which he could only get because of a catch-drop, the flashy right-hander once again failed to make this chance at the top count, falling for just six runs.
Samson had a very poor run last year, scoring just 222 runs in 15 matches and 11 innings at an average of 20.18 and a strike rate of almost 127, with just one fifty. While he touched the absolute peak of his career as an opener in 2024 with three quick centuries within five innings, his returns as an opener since the start of 2025 have diminished massively, with scores of 26, 5, 3, 1, 16, 37, 10 and 6.
Speaking about Sanju in a video posted by ESPNCricinfo, Aakash said, "Comebacks are tougher than debuts. And after getting dismissed for not too much in the first game (for just eight runs), very few people will go out with the same kind of bravado and confidence like Ishan did in the second game. So he has done his chances no harm. Pressure on Sanju now. If he scores the runs, he stays afloat. Otherwise, it is Ishan Kishan who will be playing in Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram."
He also said that Ishan's comeback from being out of the team, returning as a backup keeper to Sanju Samson and now looking like a sure starter in the playing XI ahead of the T20 World Cup, is an example of how not only are runs made in domestic cricket enough, but also sometimes it is "somebody else taking care of the script".
"Kishan was supposed to be the backup keeper. So a lot of things have to go right for you to actually shine. Ishan Kishan is a fine example of that because it's not just the amount of runs that you score. If that were the case, Sarfaraz Khan would have been playing for India in every Test that has happened in the last 12 months. But that does not work that way," he said.
"So, you score runs. Team India pivots. They drop their vice-captain. They get a keeper to open it. But again, Ishan is a backup keeper. And then a top-order left-handed batter (Tilak Varma) gets injured for the first three games. And therein, Sanju also fails. This is not the script that you write yourself. There is somebody else who's taking care of that script," he added.
Aakash also said that India, after this match, would be asking themselves if a top order dominated by left-handers Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma is okay or not, pointing out that while it feels "daunting", it is not wrong.
"The question that India will have to ponder is, are they okay with three left-handers as 1, 2 and 3? There's nothing wrong in it. We have seen the top three as right-handers many a time. Maybe even in the last World Cup, we had the top three as right-handers. So it is not new. But three left-handers - somehow it feels a little daunting," Chopra added.
Coming to the match, India won the toss and opted to bowl first. Knocks from skipper Mitchell Santner (47* in 27 balls, with six fours and a six) and Rachin Ravindra (44 in 26 balls, with two fours and four sixes) were the highlights as the Kiwis posted 208/6 in their 20 overs. Kuldeep was the pick of the bowlers for India with 2/35 in four overs, with Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Hardik Pandya, and Shivam Dube getting a wicket each.
In the run chase, India lost Sanju Samson (6) and Abhishek Sharma (0) early, but Ishan (76 in 32 balls, with 11 fours and four sixes) and skipper Surya (82* in 37 balls, with nine fours and four sixes) turned the tide with an unbelievable 122-run stand in eight overs. Shivam (36* in 18 balls, with four and three sixes) also played a quick cameo, taking India to the target in 15.2 overs. (ANI)