Sanju Samson also disappointed with the bat in the fifth T20 against New Zealand, he was out after scoring only 6 runs. In this way, Samson scored only 46 runs in 5 matches of this series, which is a disappointing performance. He may get punished for this in the T20 World Cup 2026, he may not be seen in India’s playing 11. Indications of this were seen in the fifth T20, Ishan Kishan kept wicket in his place.
Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and chose to bat first against New Zealand, even though there is a lot of dew here. Surya told that he wanted to test his bowlers, hence chose batting. On one hand, Abhishek started batting stormy, but on the other hand Sanju Samson was out after scoring 6 runs. His best score in this series is 24 runs, even in the entire series he did not complete 50 runs.
Ishan Kishan scored a stormy century
Ishan Kishan, who came at number three, scored a stormy century. Now it will be difficult for any captain to keep him out of the playing 11, the team will now play directly in the T20 World Cup. Ishaan scored 103 runs in 43 balls, in this innings he hit 10 sixes and 6 fours. Suryakumar scored 63 runs in 30 balls and Hardik Pandya scored 42 runs in 17 balls, with the help of which India scored a historic score of 271 runs.
Sanju Samson dropped from T20 World Cup?
The captain gave this indication in the fifth T20 against New Zealand, when Ishan Kishan was given the wicketkeeping gloves in place of Sanju Samson. Till now Sanju was keeping wickets, but he could not impress with the bat. It cannot also be said that Sanju did not get enough opportunities, he has flopped 5 times in a row. In such a situation, there is a possibility that we may see Ishan Kishan playing as a wicketkeeper in the T20 World Cup 2026.
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The message from Team India is clear! Indian want to go into the T20 WC with Ishan Kishan as the wicket keeper!
Sanju Samson, despite many, many chances, has failed miserably! Even in this series! #IshanKishan pic.twitter.com/UUjgQewcK0
— Prashant Kumar (@scribe_prashant) January 31, 2026
India’s first match in the T20 World Cup 2026 is with USA on 7 February. After this the second match is against Namibia on 12th February. For its third match, India will go to Sri Lanka, where it will face Pakistan on 15 February. The team’s last group stage match is with Netherlands on 18 February.

