Ishan Kishan Replaces Sanju Samson As Opener: Ishan Kishan replaced Sanju Samson, scored runs at a strike rate of 265.00 in the warm-up match, confirmed his place in the playing XI against USA.

New Delhi. Ishan Kishan was fielded in the opening in place of Sanju Samson in the T20 World Cup warm-up match against South Africa. Ishaan started the innings and scored 53 runs in just 20 balls. Ishaan, who played for Jharkhand in domestic cricket, hit 2 fours and 7 sixes. At the DY Patil Stadium, Ishaan opened his account by hitting a six on the second ball of fast bowler Lungi Ngidi and completed 50 runs by hitting a six on the fourth ball of the sixth over of Kwena Mafaka. In between, he scored 6, 6, 4 and 6 runs on the last four balls of India’s fifth over bowled by Enrique Norcia.

Ishan Kishan, who scored a century in 42 balls for India in the fifth T20 International match against New Zealand on January 31, 2026, has almost confirmed his place in the playing eleven of the Indian team for the first match of the T20 World Cup 2026 against the United States on February 7 by playing an inning of 53 runs in 20 balls. India will begin their T20 World Cup title defense against the United States in Mumbai on Saturday and then take on Namibia in Delhi on February 12.

It is almost certain that Ishan Kishan will be in the playing eleven.
It is almost certain that Ishaan will be in the Indian playing eleven on Saturday. But it will be interesting to see whether he also does wicketkeeping. Sanju Samson is India’s first-choice wicketkeeper in T20 Internationals, but he is not in form, and since Ishan can also keep wickets, he can replace Samson.

Ishaan added 80 runs for the first wicket
Ishaan along with Abhishek Sharma (24 runs in 18 balls) added 80 runs for the first wicket in just 5.4 overs. India scored 240 runs for five wickets due to the excellent performance of the batsmen under the leadership of Ishan Kishan. Apart from playing an inning of 53 runs in 20 balls with seven sixes and two fours, Ishaan made a partnership of 80 runs for the first wicket with Abhishek Sharma (24). Tilak Verma, who was returning after injury, also scored 45 runs in 19 balls with three sixes and the same number of fours. Axar Patel (35 not out), captain Suryakumar Yadav (30) and Hardik Pandya (30) also played useful innings. Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and decided to bat first, after which Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma gave the team a stormy start.