Sanju Samson's Journey: The Struggle of Belonging in Indian Cricket

Sanju Samson’s India career has never been short on talent or moments. It has been short on certainty. A Player of the Tournament at a World Cup, a match-winner on his day, yet a man who still walks into every series wondering if one failure will send him back to the fringes.

Ravichandran Ashwin has watched that journey from close quarters. And he doesn’t like what he sees.

A decade of stop-start chances

Samson first pulled on an India shirt in 2014. Ten years on, he still hasn’t been allowed to feel like a regular. Formats have changed, captains have changed, India’s white-ball depth has exploded, but Samson’s story has remained stubbornly similar: a brief run, a few bright knocks, then the trapdoor.

Ashwin underlined exactly that cycle. In his view, Samson has lived a career where even excellence hasn’t always bought him time.

“If you are Samson, won't you feel that you did brilliantly in the World Cup and then in Ireland all the batters struggled. Then he failed one game in England and got dropped, he must be experiencing difficult mental battles and wondering why no one understands his position. His journey hasn't been easy, considering he started in 2014,” Ashwin said.

That is not a throwaway line. It’s a senior player calling out a pattern.

From World Cup peak to the bench

The contrast in Samson’s recent months is stark.

At the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, he was not just good, he was the standout. Player of the Tournament. On the biggest T20 stage, with all eyes on India’s batting order, Samson delivered.

He then carried that form into the tour of Ireland, impressing again while others around him struggled. For most players, that combination – World Cup domination and solid away form – would secure a long rope.

For Samson, it did not.

Three failures in T20Is followed. Just three. That was enough for the axe to fall. He was left out of the XI for the second T20I against England in July, with young Vaibhav Sooryavanshi preferred. Samson returned for the final game of the series, but the message was clear: his spot was fragile.

Then came the squad for the Zimbabwe tour. His name wasn’t there.

A player who had just owned a World Cup was suddenly on the outside again, watching a new wave of contenders audition for his job.

His next chance came against Afghanistan. Back in the XI for the opening T20I, Samson lasted eight balls for 10 runs. One low score, and once again the noise around his place grew louder.

The invisible contest with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

Ashwin believes Samson isn’t just fighting his own numbers. He’s fighting the narrative around him, and the constant comparison with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

“When he plays well, people give the feeling of saying, 'I told you so that time itself'. Yet, when he fails, they'll say he never plays well and is inconsistent so they put pressure on him. You are never sure if the accusation from people is about Samson failing or about Vaibhav Sooryavanshi sitting out because of him playing. You wonder how it'll feel to be Sanju Samson,” Ashwin said.

That cuts to the heart of the issue. Every Samson innings now seems to carry an extra layer of tension. Not just runs versus balls, but Samson versus Sooryavanshi. One man’s boundary becomes another man’s missed opportunity. One failure, and the calls grow for the younger option.

For a wicketkeeper-batter trying to cement his place, that is a brutal environment. Every game feels like a trial. Every mistake feels like a verdict.

A career at a crossroads

Samson is 31, with the experience of a veteran and the CV of someone who has never been fully trusted. He has scaled the highest peak a T20 batter can reach by winning a World Cup award, yet still walks into each series under the shadow of the next man in line.

Ashwin’s words shine a light on the cost of that uncertainty. This is not just a selection debate. It is a mental battle, played out over years, inside a player who knows he has already proved he belongs.

The question now is simple, and ruthless: how many more times will Sanju Samson have to prove it before Indian cricket finally decides he does?