“You feel sad for Sanju Samson” - Aakash Chopra reveals India’s opening pair for T20 World Cup 2026

Former Indian cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra believes that Ishan Kishan would make a perfect opening combination with Abhishek Sharma in the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, starting on Saturday, February 7, in India and Sri Lanka.

Speaking exclusively on his YouTube channel, Chopra asserted that Kishan’s form makes him the frontrunner to occupy the opening slot, while Sanju Samson failed to create an impact in the recently concluded five-match T20I series against New Zealand at home.

“I think Ishan Kishan with Abhishek Sharma. That story is now set in stone,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

“You feel sad for Sanju for sure, but the truth is that he has wasted his opportunities,” he added.

While Kishan ended the five-match T20I series as the second-leading run-scorer, accumulating a total of 215 runs at an average of 53.75 and a strike rate of 231.18 from four games, Samson managed to score only 46 runs from five games at an average of 9.2 and a strike rate of 135.29.

Furthermore, Chopra also analyzed Samson’s batting technique, revealing that his mindset has contributed to dismissals. Delving into the technical details, Chopra revealed that Samson’s tendency to go deep into the crease has emerged as a major concern for him.

He further analyzed that Samson previously played the full ball with soft hands when moving back, but now he plays aggressive shots, compounding errors, which has eventually resulted in poor form heading into the mega event.

“It’s a function of two things. One is how your mental frame is. If you make two mistakes on one ball, the chances of getting out increase a lot,” he observed.

India squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2026: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.

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