Sanju Samson silences critics, puts Vaibhav Sooryavanshi debate to rest after whirlwind blitz destroys Afghanistan

Sanju Samson hammered 57 runs off 22 balls to blow Afghanistan away in the second T20I in Delhi.

Sanju Samson, the Indian opening batter, was feeling the heat ahead of the second T20I against Afghanistan as the chorus was growing for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's inclusion in the playing XI after the right-hander failed to set the stage on fire in the series opener. However, the experienced campaigner parked the outside noise on the fringes and answered his critics in style on Tuesday, with a quickfire 57 off 22 balls with the help of seven fours and four sixes.

Sanju Samson hammered 57 runs off 22 balls to blow Afghanistan away (AFP)

This knock of Samson eased the nerves, and India got into cruise control of the 160-run chase. The 31-year-old especially took a liking to the Afghanistan spinners, but eventually perished to the bowling of Rashid Khan while trying to look for a maximum.

This was the fourth time in 2026 that Samson went on to play more than 15 balls in a T20I innings and all four occasions have resulted in him scoring more than 50 runs with the previous three being - 97 not out against the West Indies, 89 against England and 89 against New Zealand, with all of these three knocks coming in the T20 World Cup, where he was adjudged as Player of the Tournament.

With this knock, Samson also crossed 1000 runs for India as an opener in T20Is, becoming the fifth to do so after Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan and Abhishek Sharma.

Speaking of Samson, he came back into the side for the series against Afghanistan and the Asian Games after being rested for the Zimbabwe tour. The experienced campaigner had an underwhelming tour of the UK, where he registered three low scores, leading to him being dropped and Sooryavanshi getting a game.

However, once Sooryavanshi too failed to get going, Samson came in for the fifth and final T20I against England, only to be rested for the Zimbabwe tour.

How did the second T20I unfold?

The second T20I followed the same script as the series opener, as Shreyas once again opted to bowl. Nitish Kumar Reddy then returned with three wickets as Afghanistan were reduced to 154/8.

Samson and Abhishek Sharma provided a blazing start inside the powerplay, and the duo put on 88 runs off just 38 balls, with the latter scoring 39. Rashid struck in the same over as he dismissed both the Indian openers, but the dismissals came a little too late as the job had already been done by then.

In the end, India registered a comfortable seven-wicket win as the Men in Blue chased down the target of 160 with 31 balls to spare.