Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has said that Sanju Samson will need to be careful of his spot in the T20I playing XI because Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is breathing down his and Abhishek Sharma’s neck and one mistake might lead them to lose their spot to the teenager.
Shreyas Iyer’s stint as India skipper started on a disappointing note with a 34-run loss to Ireland in the opening game of the two-match series. The defeat to Ireland has only intensified calls for Sooryavanshi to be included in the playing XI for the second T20I at the same venue on Sunday, June 28.
For the series opener, the Indian team management retained the T20 World Cup 2026-winning opening pair of Abhishek and Samson, leaving Sooryavanshi to wait for his international debut.
It remains to be seen whether Sooryavanshi gets the chance to script history in the second T20I on Sunday.
Samson, the Player of the Tournament at the 2026 T20 World Cup, endured a disappointing outing in the opener, managing just five runs off four deliveries. After India’s loss, Manjrekar requested both Samson and Abhishek not to take their places for granted, pointing out that Sooryavanshi is in contention after a brilliant IPL 2026 campaign in which he amassed 776 runs for the Rajasthan Royals.
“But Sanju Samson needs to be careful because Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is breathing down his and Abhishek Sharma’s necks,” Manjrekar said while speaking on Sony Sports.
But Manjrekar was quick to point out that Sooryavanshi’s inclusion wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the opening T20I. He added that, for the moment, the opening slots belong to Abhishek and Samson, insisting there is no vacancy at the top of the order despite the growing clamour for Sooryavanshi’s debut.
“I think he would have done what Abhishek did, slightly better, maybe. A chase where you had to do everything in the first six overs. You had to carry that momentum for the rest of the overs as well,” Manjrekar said.
