Follow UsOver the last two months, a lot has been said about Sanju Samson’s place in India’s best T20I line-up, with the Kerala wicketkeeper-batter now finding himself warming the bench. Samson did not start in India’s best XI for the five-match T20I series opener against South Africa on December 9 (Tuesday), with Jitesh Sharma preferred over him.
Across his last few appearances in the middle-order, Samson could not make the same sort of impact that he had as an opener in the T20I scheme of things. Before Shubman Gill took over Samson’s spot, the Kerala batter had smashed three T20I centuries and looked like a force to reckon with, given his chemistry with Abhishek Sharma.
While the management has come under serious scrutiny for this decision, former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has backed the management, stating that it is a ‘fair call’ to leave out Samson.
“It’s a fair call [to back Jitesh] because you will face difficulty going forward if you are thinking about batting Sanju Samson down the order. Sanju Samson has batted up the order, in the top three, in his entire career. It’s a very difficult job if you go down from there. He played a very good knock in the Asia Cup while batting in the middle overs,” Pathan said on Star Sports, reported The Indian Express.
Jitesh’s swashbuckling IPL 2025 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), which saw him score 261 runs at a strike rate of 176.35, has earned him a spot back in India’s best XI. The right-hander hasn’t disappointed too since his return, with scores of 22* (13), 3 (4) and 10* (5) in three games, and pulling off four catches in the first T20I against South Africa.
Pathan reckoned that an extended run for Jitesh would be better off for this Indian setup, considering Gill will be the opener for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
“However, if you have to choose one between the two as to who will be more competent and proceed with one plan, you are proceeding with Jitesh Sharma currently, and you will have to move forward with him only. If you keep chopping and changing, you will have difficulties going forward,” he added.
India lead the five-match series against South Africa 1-0, with the second T20I on December 11 (Thursday) in Mullanpur.