India’s T20 World Cup 2026 hero, Sanju Samson has a chance to enter the elite list of India batters on the Ireland tour. In the two-T20I series that starts on June 26 in Belfast, Samson needs 123 more runs to complete 9,000 runs in the format (including T20Is, domestic T20s and franchise T20s including the IPL).
Samson is currently the fifth-highest run-scorer for India in T20s. From 344 T20s, he has 8,877 runs from 327 innings, averaging nearly 31. His strike rate is just shy of 140. In the T20 format, he has eight centuries and 55 half-centuries.
India's highest run-scorers in T20s are Virat Kohli (14,218 runs), Rohit Sharma (12,531 runs), Shikhar Dhawan (9,797 runs), and Suryakumar Yadav (9,729 runs).
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Samson is currently the 33rd batter on the list of leading run-scorers in T20 cricket.
The wicketkeeper-batter needs 101 more runs to become ninth India batter to complete 1,500 T20I runs.
Samson's record against Ireland
Samson has played three T20Is against Ireland, scoring 118 runs, averaging 59 with a strike rate of 171.01. In 2022, he scored a 42-ball 77 against Andy Balbirnie's Ireland.
Samson’s debut CSK season
Samson's last appearance was in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 for Chennai Super Kings (CSK). From 14 games, he scored 477 runs at an average of 43.36 and strike rate of 165.62. While he scored a couple of centuries, he managed just one fifty in the season.
Who will be benched to make way for Sooryavanshi?
The 15-year-old Sooryavanshi has received maiden T20I call-up on the back of a record-breaking IPL season for Rajasthan Royals (RR). On June 21, he also scored a 29-ball 94 for India A against Sri Lanka A in One-Day tri-series final. It is yet to be seen who gets benched to make way for Sooryavanshi.
While Samson scored three consecutive fifties in T20 World Cup 2026, Abhishek Sharma struggled against off-spin. It led to Ishan Kishan getting slotted at no.3 to make way for Samson. But, in the final, he scored 52 runs from 21 balls. For SRH in IPL 2026, he roared back to form with 563 runs from 15 innings, averaging just over 40. His strike rate was 204.72. He scored a century and four fifties in the season. The team management has a good headache ahead of the first ODI on UK tour.