NEW DELHI: Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal did not mince his words while criticising Sanju Samson after the wicketkeeper-batter suffered another failure in the fourth T20I against New Zealand. He emphasised that pressure should not be used as an excuse by someone with Samson's experience.

Samson once again struggled to make an impact, scoring just 24 runs in the fourth T20I on Wednesday in Visakhapatnam. After a promising start, he was dismissed by Mitchell Santner, finishing with 24 off 15 balls. Over his last five T20I innings, Samson's highest score remains 37, which he made against South Africa in December last year.

With only 40 runs across his last four matches in the New Zealand series and Ishan Kishan impressing at No. 3, Samson's spot in India's T20 World Cup squad is now facing intense scrutiny.

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"Sanju Samson has played for many years. He started in the IPL middle-order, then became an opener. After playing international cricket for 10-12 years, pressure shouldn't be an excuse. He has had four chances in this series. I can accept failure in one or two matches, but not in three or four. He knows someone like Ishan Kishan, who is the backup and is batting well at number three, is waiting. Sanju will blame himself. He had four opportunities but could not make them count," Chahal said on JioStar.

"However, there's no need to feel too bad because the T20 World Cup is still far. There's one more match against New Zealand. It now depends on the team management's thinking. If they feel Sanju is struggling as an opener and Ishan is doing well at number three, then the right call would be to make Sanju sit out and let Ishan Kishan take his spot as the opener and wicketkeeper in the final T201," Chahal added.

Kishan missed the fourth T20I due to a minor injury, leaving uncertainty over whether he will return to the playing XI for the fifth and last match. His comeback could come at the expense of Samson. The final T20I is scheduled for January 31 in Thiruvananthapuram.