Will India Drop Sanju Samson? Selection Dilemma Looms Ahead Of Final T20I

Even though the Indian team management has remained steadfast in its backing of the established line-up, the Auckland shellacking might have triggered thoughts of making some tactical changes to the playing XI for the fifth and final T20I against New Zealand on Sunday. India hold an unassailable 3-1 lead, but the world champions would certainly not want to sign off with a defeat after dominating the early stages of the five-match series. In that context, the think tank may consider bringing back Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, with Sanju Samson likely to be the casualty. Samson appears to have strong support from the team management, but the opener has not exactly set the series alight, registering scores of 67, 14, 18 and 4.

Perhaps a short break will help him refresh both his mind and his game.

An underwhelming Shreyas Iyer has also gone under the radar after India dominated the West Indies and New Zealand in recent T20I series under his leadership.

Since scoring his maiden T20I hundred, Iyer's next eight innings in the format have yielded scores of 40, 1, 16, 22, 42, 7, 5 and 22.

Iyer would certainly want to change that narrative with a more substantial contribution here.

In fact, his struggles have been well masked by the late-order hitting of Naman Dhir and Nitish Kumar Reddy in recent matches.

The bowling department, too, has its issues to address despite keeping New Zealand below 200 in the second and third T20Is.

India have relied heavily on Arshdeep Singh and, to a lesser extent, Axar Patel for wickets and control, while the much-hyped return of Bhuvneshwar Kumar has yet to deliver the desired results.

The veteran pacer has managed just one wicket in three matches while conceding 139 runs at an economy rate of 11.58.

In fact, Arshdeep is the only Indian bowler with an economy rate below 10 in the series.

While Nitish and Dhir have added significant value with the bat, they are still developing as dependable bowling options.

The only way to bring Kuldeep Yadav or Varun Chakaravarthy into the XI may be to leave out Dhir, thereby strengthening the bowling attack at the cost of some batting depth and part-time off-spin.

India's spin-bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule recently said that both Kuldeep and Chakaravarthy are ready whenever called upon, although that opportunity may not come in this series.

India could also consider using Tilak Varma and Abhishek Sharma as additional bowling options, but that strategy could prove expensive given the high-scoring nature of the series.

Modern cricket rarely allows teams to treat any game as a dead rubber, and New Zealand will be no different.

The hosts will be eager to carry momentum into the upcoming five-match ODI series by ending the T20I rubber on a winning note.

The ODI series carries even greater significance, with both teams likely to assess combinations and personnel ahead of next year's ICC ODI World Cup.

New Zealand, meanwhile, will draw confidence from the performances of centurion Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell, who produced a blistering half-century in the fourth T20I.

India: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav.

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (wk), Bevon Jacobs, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Devon Conway, Mitchell Santner (captain), Michael Bracewell, Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner, Matt Fisher, Kyle Jamieson, Jacob Duffy, Adam Milne, Josh Clarkson.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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