Sanju Samson or Ishan Kishan? Who should be Abhishek Sharma’s opening partner in the first T20I against New Zealand? Both are in the T20 World Cup squad for India and this series could prove to be a rehearsal to partner Abhishek at the top of the order.
The five-match T20I series between India and New Zealand is set to commence on January 21 at the VCA Cricket Stadium in Nagpur. This is a huge series for both teams, with the T20 World Cup only a tad more than a fortnight away from getting underway. Abhishek Sharma has sealed his position as an opener for India but there is a tussle between Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan for the second opener.
The T20I series against New Zealand presents a great opportunity for the team management to gauge who is better as both players are likely to get a chance to bat in top three, with Tilak Varma ruled out of the first three matches. But who should open with Abhishek Sharma? Let us have a look at the T20I stats of Samson and Kishan
Samson is more experienced in the shortest format of the game, having played 52 matches so far and has scored 1032 runs at an average of 25.8 and a strike rate of 148.06. However, he batted in the middle or lower-middle order for the majority of his career. As for Kishan, he has played only 32 matches in T20Is so far, scoring 796 runs at an average of 25.67 and a strike rate of 124.37. He is majorly a top order player and has done well whenever given an opportunity.
Sanju Samson vs Ishan Kishan: Stats comparison in T20Is
| Players | Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | Best Score | Strike Rate |
| Sanju Samson | 52 | 44 | 1032 | 25.8 | 111 | 148.06 |
| Ishan Kishan | 32 | 32 | 796 | 25.67 | 89 | 124.37 |
Who is the better opener? Samson or Kishan?
When it comes to opening the innings, Samson has done extremely well, smashing three hundreds in just 18 innings and scoring 559 runs at an average of 32.88 and a strike rate close to 180. Apart from those three tons, he has only one fifty-plus score to show for his efforts.
Meanwhile, Kishan has opened more than Samson in his T20I career, doing so 27 out of 32 innings, and scoring 662 runs at an average of 24.5 and a strike rate of mid-120s with four fifties to his credit. Kishan’s strike-rate is very less compared to Samson and this is where the latter might win the battle, at least to start with, in the T20I series against New Zealand.
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