Follow UsWith Shubman Gill's elevation as India's T20 International (T20I) captain, Sanju Samson's place in India's playing XI is in jeopardy. Samson had a brilliant 2024, where he slammed 436 runs at 43.60 along with a strike rate of 180.16, hitting three tons and a fifty, with most of the runs coming as an opener.
Even in the ongoing Kerala Cricket League (KCL), Samson has been in red-hot form, scoring 121 (51), 89 (46), 62 (37) and 83 (41) in his last four innings for the Kochi Blue Tigers. Hence, it would be naive for India not to make the best of his excellent run of form.
Keeping this in mind, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes that the wicketkeeper-batter should play at No. 3 or bat down the order as a finisher at six in the upcoming Asia Cup 2025.
"It’s a very good headache to have for any selection committee that you have two capable batters and somebody like Sanju Samson who can maybe even bat at three, and if needed come down at six as a finisher. Jitesh has also done well in the recently concluded IPL. But my feeling is that Samson will probably get the nod," Gavaskar told Sony Sports Network.
"Looking at the way he batted in this T20 format in the IPL, it was a no-brainer. He has been very successful in the T20 format for the IPL, so there is no question that he has the capability of doing well in T20. In the kind of form that he is in, where he has scored more than 750 runs in the just concluded Test series, that really augurs well even for the T20 tournament."
India begin their Asia Cup campaign against the UAE on September 10 (Wednesday) before their high-octane clash against Pakistan four days later in Dubai.