Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra believes the pressure is mounting on Sanju Samson after the first T20I against Afghanistan, which India won by seven wickets. Chasing 157 runs for the win, Samson was dismissed cheaply after scoring 10 runs off eight deliveries, after he was picked ahead of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the final XI.

The Indian opener holed out to a deep square-leg fielder while playing the pull shot but could not get the distance. Samson returned to the squad after he was dropped in the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe.

“I was focusing on only one guy, and that was Sanju Samson, because, thus far, we have been saying that a slight injustice has been done to him. You win the World Cup, and then you are left out after performing badly in two matches. However, he got out again. He was batting decently, but was caught in the deep,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

“So one innings has gone bad, and the innings are getting counted. Vaibhav Suryavanshi is sitting outside. There is already a question now because you made Vaibhav sit out after doing well in Zimbabwe. I was in favor of playing Sanju, but the pressure will keep mounting because the pressure will be there until Vaibhav keeps sitting out,” he added.

On the other hand, the renowned commentator praised Abhishek Sharma, who scored a match-winning knock of 82 runs off just 32 balls.

“Abhishek Sharma, who was going through a slight lean patch, came after scoring a few runs in the Sher-E-Punjab T20 League, and this is where he scored 82 runs off 32 balls with seven sixes. 82 is a massive, massive score,” he said.

“The match was over in 13.4 overs. It seemed like he would score a hundred, but he got out eventually. However, when he starts batting, all grounds look small, and Delhi’s is small in any case. He keeps reminding us that Abhishek can do this if he fires, and do it so quickly,” Chopra observed.

The second T20I between India and Afghanistan will be played on Tuesday in Delhi.