Sanju Samson has been on the sidelines of India's T20 World Cup campaign for all games except the Namibia clash where he replaced an unfit Abhishek Sharma. When the left-hander recovered from his illness, Samson found himself back on the bench yet again. However, the Kerala batter might be in contention to make a return to India's playing XI for the Super 8s stage.
On Friday (February 20), India had their first training session for the South Africa game to be held on Sunday (February 22). The major highlight of India's practice session was Samson who had an extended batting stint as he faced different combinations of bowlers and match simulations during preparation.
It's difficult to make any conclusions but there does seem to be a strong speculation about his possible return to the playing XI for India's first Super 8s encounter. Maybe that's why he is getting more time in the nets. If the 31-year-old does make it to the XI, who will he replace in the Indian line-up?
Abhishek is currently on three ducks and is yet to score a run in T20 World Cup 2026 but the no.1 ranked T20I batter isn't going to be dropped, that's for sure. Hence, it is between two players for the team management if they are to include Samson - Tilak Varma or Rinku Singh. Tilak has just come off a major injury and hasn't looked at his fluent best yet.
The Hyderabad batter has struggled for tempo, especially against spin and replacing him is the easiest option to get Samson back into the mix. However, Tilak has been a crucial player for India and his performance in the 2025 Asia Cup final still lingers in memory. But, if India drop Rinku, they lost their only proper finisher and all batters will then bat out of position in the middle order.
It's very much possible that India shall field an unchanged top-seven against the Proteas. But, if they were to include Samson, the think tank will be in a proper soup as decision-making won't be that easy.