Sanju Samson’s candid admission on Ishan Kishan takeover before T20 World Cup: 'I could feel he was coming for my spot'

Sanju Samson has finally revealed how he felt when an in-form Ishan Kishan took away his spot in India's playing XI in the T20 World Cup 2026. Samson became India's first-choice opener after selectors decided to drop then vice-captain Shubman Gill, but a streak of poor performances pushed him out of the first team.

Ishan Kishan, who was nowhere near the T20 team, suddenly found himself in the squad after a blistering Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in which he hit a century in the final for Jharkhand, and replaced Samson at the top just before the T20 World Cup 2026 at home.

Sanju Samson’s brutally honest confession on Ishan Kishan

Samson has now broken the silence on the sense of insecurity he had when he wasn't scoring runs for India, while Kishan was in top form in domestic cricket.

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“Honestly, Ishan Kishan came into the squad out of nowhere. He had a great Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he won the championship for Jharkhand and he has also had a great story, boss,” Samson told Abhinav Mukund on the CSK podcast.

“We only look at ourselves, right? I think I have worked day in and day out, but lately I felt like Ishan had also done the same. After what happened to him for the last two years — he was out of the system — he worked so hard in domestic cricket and worked his way back. He had started scoring runs and I can admit it on camera that I could feel he was coming for my spot,” Samson added.

Samson added that when Kishan hit a hundred against New Zealand at Thiruvananthapuram just ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026, the Kerala batter made peace with himself that the Jharkhand batter was going to be the first-choice opener alongside Abhishek Sharma.

“In Trivandrum, when he scored that hundred, I was like, ‘Sanju, now you just give it to him, boss. He deserves it more than you do. You got your chances, you didn’t score runs, but there is someone who is in tremendous form.’ He came out of the Mushtaq Ali Trophy, did everything right to reach there and then scored a century just before the World Cup started. So now I think, ‘Sanju, you just leave it,’” Samson said.

Samson, however, witnessed a big turnaround during the tournament as India's failure to counter off-spin forced the management to bring him back into the playing XI as an opener, while Kishan batted at No 3.

Samson would then hit three consecutive fifties, including in the semi-final and final, as India became the first team to win the T20 World Cup at home and also the first side to successfully defend the trophy.