R Ashwin On Sanju Samson: Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin gives his honest feedback on Sanju Samson’s current form, stating that the batter is furiously searching for some runs. The Kerala batter made his World Cup debut against Namibia in the T20 World Cup 2026 playing XI at the Arun Jaitely Stadium on February 12.
After Abhishek Sharma failed to make it into the playing XI, Sanju Samson got a chance in the team. At the start of the innings he looked incredible, smashing three sixes and one four; however, he was dismissed by Ben Shikongo in the second over of the game.
R Ashwin On Sanju Samson
As a result, Sanju Samson went back to the pavilion, scoring 22 runs off eight balls in his T20 World Cup debut. Talking about his dismissal, the Namibia pacer rolled fingers across the ball and took pace off. This was the reason behind Sanju’s dismissal, and he only managed to chip the ball to deep mid-wicket, and Louren Steenkamp took the catch with ease.
Ashwin retired from international cricket in December 2024 in between the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 and stated that the management and fans all would be hoping for Abhishek’s comeback for the Pakistan clash on February 15 in Colombo.
“Sanju Samson Mind Is Jumbled”: R Ashwin
Ashwin, talking about this on his YouTube channel, stated,
“Sanju Samson is looking like a batter who is searching for runs. His mind is jumbled, and many things are swirling around in it. The team backed him in the absence of Abhishek Sharma, but I think India will be hoping for Abhishek’s comeback.”
Further, he said,
“Abhishek is a big player for India. Speaking of Samson’s dismissal, he just tapped it to the fielder. It looked like someone who was not very clear in his head. He didn’t expect the ball to be there. Such a mental state can affect any player; it is important to address it. If it were me, I would just advise him not to think too much and play fearlessly. That’s the only thing I’ll tell him.”
Indian team struggles against spin
In the match against Namibia, the Indian team struggled playing against spin. Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus disturbed the Indian team with his spin attack, taking 4 wickets and giving away 20 runs.
The Indian team will now be facing Pakistan in their next clash on February 15, Sunday, at the R Premdasa Stadium, and in their spin attack they have Usman Tariq, Abrar Ahmed, and Shadab Khan. Ashwin feels that India should improve their performance against spin if they want to go further in the tournament.
He said,
“We struggled against spin. The ball was also stopping a bit. I think India was given a bit of food for thought regarding how we can tackle the spin.”
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