“Pressure on Sanju now” - Ex-Indian cricketer after Ishan Kishan’s POTM performance in 2nd T20I vs NZ

Former Indian cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra feels the pressure will be on the Indian opening batter Sanju Samson after Ishan Kishan’s player of the match performance in the second T20I against New Zealand, in Raipur.

While Samson failed to create an impact in both the games of the ongoing five-match T20I series, Kishan went on to score 76 runs off 32 balls with 11 fours and four sixes in the second T20I. Notably, Kishan is currently playing at No.3 in Tilak Varma’s absence.

With Tilak expected to make his comeback for the last two T20Is of the series, Chopra reckoned that Kishan would have high chances of taking up Samson’s opening spot in the last two games of the series. 

"Comebacks are tougher than debuts. And after getting dismissed for not too much in the first game, very few people will go out with the same kind of bravado and confidence like Ishan did in the second game. So he has done his chances no harm. Pressure on Sanju now. If he scores the runs, he stays afloat. Otherwise, it's Ishan Kishan who will be playing in Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram," Aakash Chopra told ESPNCricinfo.

"Well, Kishan was supposed to be the backup keeper. So a lot of things have to go right for you to actually shine. Ishan Kishan is a fine example of that because it's not just the amount of runs that you score. If that was the case, Sarfaraz Khan would have been playing for India in every Test that has happened in the last 12 months. But that does not work that way,” he added.

"So, you score runs. Team India pivots. They drop their vice-captain. They get a keeper to open. But again, Ishan is a backup keeper. And then a top-order left-handed batter gets injured for the first three games. And therein, Sanju also fails. This is not the script that you write yourself. There is somebody else who's taking care of that script," he stated.

Furthermore, Chopra went on to add that it would be interesting to see if the Indian team management goes ahead with three left-handers in the top three if Kishan takes up Samson’s spot and Tilak takes up the No.3 role.

"The question that India will have to ponder is, are they okay with three left-handers as 1, 2 and 3? There's nothing wrong in it. We have seen top three as right-handers many a time. Maybe even in the last World Cup, we had top three as right-handers. So it's not new. But three left-handers, somehow it feels a little daunting," he concluded.

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