Sanju Samson makes historic T20 World Cup debut, beats Suryakumar Yadav for rare record

Sanju Samson [Source: AFP Photos]

Sanju Samson made his way back into the Indian playing XI for their Group A match of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup against Namibia on February 12. The wicketkeeper-batter replaced blistering opener Abhishek Sharma, as the latter is yet to recover from his illness.

In doing so, Sanju Samson also played his first match in any T20 World Cup, achieving the milestone moment at the age of 31 years and 93 days. He has now become one of the oldest Indian cricketers ever to make his T20 World Cup debut, even defeating his current skipper Suryakumar Yadav in the process.

Sanju Samson becomes second oldest Indian to make T20 World Cup debut

Sanju Samson was included in India’s playing XI in match number 18 of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Playing his first match in a T20 World Cup, the cricketer became India’s second oldest player to make his debut at the 20-overs ICC showpiece event.

Interestingly, the Kerala veteran was also a part of the Indian team that lifted the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean a couple of years ago. However, he did not receive a single crack in the playing XI throughout the tournament.

With Sanju Samson playing his first T20 World Cup match in the form of India vs Namibia affair in Delhi, here is a look at five of India’s oldest players to make their T20 World Cup debuts.

Oldest Players to make their T20 World Cup Debut for India:

Sanju Samson returns with a fiery top-order cameo

Sanju Samson also made his overall return to the Indian XI through the match after missing India’s tournament opener against USA last week in Mumbai. The blistering opening batter was replaced by Ishan Kishan owing to the latter’s recent insurgence in white-ball cricket.

Samson, meanwhile, underwent a series to forget against New Zealand last month. In five matches as India’s opener, the right-hander minted just 46 runs at a dismal average of 9.20. Kishan, on the other hand, aggregated 215 runs with a match-winning 43-ball 103 in Thiruvananthapuram.

Sanju Samson made his international debut for Team India back in mid-2015 during a T20I series in 2015. In spite of his 11-year journey with Indian cricket, the IPL cult hero never truly cemented his place in the national side for a longer run.

In any case, he launched three huge sixes and a boundary in his eight-ball fiery knock off 22 runs against Namibia. The explosive top-order batter failed to maximise his early momentum by picking a midwicket fielder off Ben Shikongo in just the second over of the match.

Ishan Kishan leads India’s charge

Playing with a new opening partner, Ishan Kishan got Team India off to yet another flier, this time against Namibia in match 18 of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The cricketer slapped an electrifying 20-ball half-century and shared a counterattacking partnership with Tilak Varma for the second wicket.

By the time of publishing, India reached 105-2 in 8 overs.