Sanju Samson says India’s competition between him and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi must remain secondary to the team’s results as the pair fight for an opening slot.
The two have followed remarkably intertwined paths since Sooryavanshi made his IPL debut for Rajasthan Royals in 2025. Samson was injured then, allowing the 14-year-old to break into the side.
Sooryavanshi responded with a century in his third IPL game. When Samson returned, Rajasthan kept the teenager as an opener and moved their captain to No. 3.
The competition has now followed them into India’s T20I squad.
Samson started ahead of Sooryavanshi against Afghanistan in Delhi on Tuesday and responded with a 22-ball 57. Sooryavanshi watched from the sidelines for the second game in a row.
“We may be competitors to the outside world, but we are a team and we are playing for a country and we want to win the game first,” Samson said after India took a 2-0 series lead.
He also urged players to accept selection decisions without allowing frustration to affect them.
“We just have to be ready for our own opportunity,” Samson said. “We can’t sulk that ‘oh, I didn’t get [the chance] or why did they give it to him’. Those kind of mindsets don’t work here.”
Sooryavanshi’s rise has made the contest difficult to ignore. He won the Orange Cap in IPL 2026 at 15, scoring 776 runs at an average of 48.5 and a strike rate of 237.3.
He then impressed on the Zimbabwe tour, winning the Player of the Series award after making his India debut.
Samson has his own recent credentials. He won the Player of the Tournament award at India’s T20 World Cup earlier this year after scoring 97 not out in the semi-final and 89 in the final.
His response to the selection noise has been simple.
“I try to turn off the Wi-Fi,” he joked.
Yet he admitted the criticism can still reach him.
“At first, it feels bad. I am not a machine. We are not robots that it wouldn’t affect us at all,” Samson said. “It definitely matters, and you kind of get a bit affected.”
Samson said his answer lies in controlling his preparation rather than chasing consistent results in T20 cricket.
“I think consistency in my process. I think consistency in my preparation,” he said. “Consistency has to be in the frame of mind, and then whatever happens, happens.”
He also credited head coach Gautam Gambhir and India’s leadership group for communicating clearly during difficult selection calls.
