"What Happened Was Unfair": Ex-India Star's Stunning Remark On Sanju Samson

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan said that Sanju Samson deserves a consistent place in the batting order. He pointed out that Samson's earlier demotion to the middle order was 'unfair' and said that he should be given more chances to find his form. Samson has not enjoyed a good run of form in the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand as the wicket-keeper batter has scored just 40 runs in 4 matches. Samson's form has resulted in criticism from fans as well as experts and some have even questioned his spot in the T20 World Cup 2026 side. Pathan said that although Samson should be backed, team management's option to bring in Ishan Kishan would be 'understandable'.

"Personally, I would like to see Sanju Samson getting some runs and getting the position which he is there for a long period of time, because what happened was unfair to him, right? If Samson does not score runs and the team management replaces him with Ishan Kishan, you can understand that decision," Irfan Pathan told RevSportz.

Pathan went on to highlight the importance of having players like Tilak Varma in the squad and praised him for his ability to play under pressure. The ex-India cricketer added that Tilak provides balance and reliability to the batting line-up and praised the way he has developed his game.

Tilak was ruled out of the series against New Zealand due to injury but is expected to recover in time for the World Cup.

"I think this approach is really good, but I really think in this team, guys like Tilak Varma are very important. Because when there is pressure, or when the ball starts to grip, he will come into play, because he plays percentage cricket. In this team everyone plays aggressive, which is fantastic, but you need a player like Tilak Varma," Pathan added.

Topics mentioned in this article

Irfan Pathan Ishan Kishan Tilak Varma Sanju Samson India Cricket Team T20 World Cup 2026 Cricket