File photo of Sanju Samson.© AFP
Out-of-favour India spinner Amit Mishra has made a bold claim during a recent interview. The cricketer, who last played for the nation in February 2017, opined that Samson is old now to feature in the 2026 T20 World Cup squad. Mishra claimed that it is Virat Kohli, who put forward this idea of giving young players more chances in the shortest format for India than the older ones. It is worth noting that Samson, 29, was part of India’s 2024 T20 World Cup-winning team, though he warmed the bench throughout the tournament with Rishabh Pant playing the role of wicketkeeper-batter.
“I don’t think that Samson will play the next World Cup because he is now 34 years old, there are many young players, and Virat Kohli brought forth this concept that young players perform more in T20 cricket,” Amit Mishra said Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast ‘Unplugged‘.
Mishra however added that an “extraordinary” performance might see Samson getting included in the squad for the upcoming mega event that is set to be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
“He can play the next World Cup, but he will have to perform extraordinarily well in order to be selected. Either he is now in the team, so he should maintain his position until the next World Cup, otherwise, it will be very difficult,” Mishra said.
“There is Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and many others who are behind you. The mindset of T20 cricket is around young players, but it is the seniors who win you the game in T20s as experience matters in the shortest format,” he added.
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja called time on their T20I careers following India’s 2024 T20 World Cup triumph. This leaves the India squad in the shortest format with a few veteran players like Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah.
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