Sanju Samson vs Ishan Kishan: Their T20I journeys
What's the story
The Sanju Samson versus Ishan Kishan debate took center stage at the start of the year. While Samson was backed as India's first-choice wicketkeeper-batter, Ishan Kishan trumped him for the spot with his incredible T20I return. The latter replaced Samson in the pecking order, but the Indian team cracked the code by playing them together in the ICC T20 World Cup. The move handed India the coveted trophy. While the two continue to play in the XI, we compare their T20I numbers.
Journey
A look at Samson's journey
Samson made his T20I debut back in 2015. After having a stop-start career, the Kerala batter finally became India's mainstay opener after the 2024 T20 World Cup.
His successful opening stands with Abhishek Sharma have regularly bolstered India.
As of now, Samson has scored 1,719 runs from 76 T20Is with a strike rate of 158.87. His tally includes 3 tons and 10 half-centuries.
Return
How Samson bounced back
With incredible performances against New Zealand at the start of the year, Kishan had outclassed Samson for the wicketkeeper-batter spot.
Samson's inexplicable footwork resulted in him being dropped. However, he proved his mettle with three successive 80-plus scores in the T20 World Cup, including in the final.
Samson hammered 321 runs at 80.25 with a strike rate of 199.37 in the tournament.
Information
Successive T20I tons
In 2024, Samson became the first-ever Indian to score centuries in successive T20Is - 111 vs Bangladesh and 107 vs South Africa. Later that month, Tilak Varma joined Samson as the second Indian to do so.
Comeback
Ishan's comeback to T20I side
Ishan, who shone on his T20I debut with a half-century in 2021, was a regular feature until November 2023.
The left-hander then took a mental break before being excluded from the BCCI central contracts list in early 2024. This was because he denied Ranji Trophy matches for Jharkhand.
With groundbreaking performances in domestic cricket, Ishan returned to the Indian side in January this year.
Numbers
A look at his T20I numbers
As of now, Ishan has scored 1,924 runs from 65 T20Is at an average of 31.54. He has a strike rate of 147.65, a ton, and 13 half-centuries.
Like Samson, the left-handed batter also made a mark in this year's T20 World Cup. He finished just behind Samson on the run tally.
Ishan scored 317 runs from nine games at a strike rate of 193.29.
Form
Current form
Both Samson and Ishan have been in blazing form of late.
After a quiet start, the former raised his bar, totalling 687 runs from 24 T20Is with a strike rate of 178.44.
Meanwhile, Ishan became the No. 1 T20I batter. He also became the second Indian with 1,000 T20I runs in a calendar year.
Ishan currently has 1,128 runs with a strike rate of 170.13 this year.