Saturday’s showdown at Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram caps off the India-New Zealand T20I series, with Sanju Samson facing the ultimate test. The Kerala cricketer must deliver on home soil to overcome his woeful form and eye a 2026 T20 World Cup call-up.
Four matches, 40 runs, best of 24—that’s Samson’s grim ledger. Picked over Shubman Gill to open and as lead keeper, he’s disappointed. Backup Ishan Kishan’s sizzling 76 has upped the ante, making this outing do-or-die.
India’s fortress-like record here—3/4 T20I wins, 155 average first innings score, 235 high vs Australia—bodes well. Roaring home crowds might just unlock Samson’s potential for a game-changing knock.
Catch every boundary from 7 PM IST on Star Sports or JioHotstar. Captain Suryakumar Yadav marshals a formidable unit against Mitchell Santner’s resilient Black Caps.
India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravi Bishnoi.
New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (c), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway (wk), Jacob Duffy, Jacob Foulkes, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Bevon Jacobs, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Robinson, Ish Sodhi.
The stage is set for Samson’s resurgence.