Will Sanju Samson play 4th T20I vs New Zealand? – REVEALED

Ahead of the 4th T20I between between India and New Zealand there are a lot of questions regarding Sanju Samson's poor form and whether he will play the 4th T20I in Vizag. Before the New Zealand T20I series,

Shubman Gill was dropped from the T20 World Cup squad, and Samson came back to his role as an opener. However, the first three T20Is against the Kiwis have seen scores of 10, 6, and 0 for Samson. He has not been able to perform at his best in this series and his record overall since the last year has been not so good. But the question to whether he will retain his place has been answered in the press conference ahead of the 4th T20I.

Team India bowling coach Morne Morkel has thrown his support to Sanju Samson expressing confidence that the right-hander is just one innings away from turning around his lean patch. Speaking to the press ahead of the 4th T20I, Morkel said “Sanju is one knock away from getting that confidence and getting that form back. We all know the cliché word that ‘form is temporary and class is permanent’. For us in building up to the World Cup it is important for the guys to find that peak performance at the right time. He’s training well, he’s hitting the ball very well, so I think it’s just a matter of time for him to get a score on the board.” Watch the video here.

Samson made his T20I debut almost 11 years ago has played 55 T20Is and managed 1048 runs at a strike-rate of 147 plus with three fifties and three hundreds. Two of those centuries came on South African soil in late 2024. His form since that series has been cold and he has not been consistent. Another concern is he has very ordinary performances against the better sides. His average against top teams are very low (5.2 against New Zealand, 10.2 versus England, 12.5 versus Australia, and 18.5 against West Indies). The only team which he averages well is South  Africa.

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Sanju Samson has the support of the team management for now and is set to play in the 4th T20I for India but given his lack of runs the pressure will be high on him to perform. Ishan Kishan has been in great form and has already scored a half century in this series. Tilak Varma is set to be fit for the upcoming T20 World Cup, so the next match at Vizag is very crucial for Samson. If Sanju fails in the next game then there will be more pressure on him and it might even be tough to retain his spot. India are leading the series 3-0 with two more matches left in the series. The 4th T20I will be played on January 28