Follow UsSanju Samson finds himself in a precarious position in India’s T20I plans, just a few months away from the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. The wicketkeeper batter, who was one of the first names in India’s T20I playing XI, has now been restricted to a back-up role after Shubman Gill’s entrance in the setup.
Jitesh Sharma has emerged as one of the best-suited wicketkeeping options for India, leaving Samson on the bench. While the situation seems not to change anytime soon, former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin threw up a probability of Samson batting as India’s No.3 in the current playing XI.
“I want to see if India will give Samson a chance at three, or will they go with Suryakumar and Tilak at three and four. They tried to use Sanju here in Australia. The template had to be changed for Gill came in,” Ashwin said on his show ‘Ash ki Baat’.
“Sanju was opening and giving that keeping option. Now that the opening batter and keeper has gone, you are having to accommodate a keeper and finisher down the order. I will be looking forward from India’s perspective, if we are giving role clarity to batters,” he further added.
The upcoming five-match T20I series will be another big test for the Indian side, given that the T20 World Cup is around the corner, and South Africa were the finalists in the previous edition. However, Ashwin questioned whether the Proteas’ bowling unit could match India’s firepower.
“I am very keen to watch this T20 series. South Africa is one team that can match us in batting power. I also want to see if they can be real contenders going into the World Cup, looking at their bowling. I don’t see much bowling teeth.
“Whether they can match up to Kuldeep (Yadav), Varun (Chakaravarthy), and (Jasprit) Bumrah throughout the series will give us a fair idea. It is an important series for India as well, because they have to finalise their XI and batting positions and role clarities. We have experimented a lot. We will need some stability,” he added.
The first of the five-match T20I series will be played in Cuttack on December 9 (Tuesday).