The moment Shubman Gill was announced as India’s vice-captain for the Asia Cup, Sanju Samson’s fate was sealed. The wicketkeeper batter had been India’s opener for the last 12 months, but that only came about as the management decided to rest Gill in the first place.
According to Irfan Pathan, Samson’s case to be part of India’s Playing XI for the Asia Cup is extremely difficult. Abhishek Sharma makes the side even before Gill, considering his impact. And since Jitesh Sharma produced an incredible performance for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Gill can play as an opener, and Jitesh can be the finisher and wicketkeeper.
“Sanju has done really well. There is one question mark in terms of his consistency. Either he scores hundreds or gets out cheaply. Obviously, Abhishek Sharma will be there because he can bowl and has an astounding (batting) strike rate. Because Jitesh Sharma has got in the side, they have the option to play Shubman Gill (as an opener). I’ll be tempted to go that way,” Irfan said in an interaction arranged by Sony Sports Network (SonyLIV), the official livestream destination for the Asia Cup.
Indian cricket’s obsession with finding an all-format captain
The former all-rounder cited how Indian cricket’s search for the next all-format captain has given Gill a chance out of nowhere. They want a replacement for Rohit Sharma, and at this moment, Gill is the best option.
“Where Indian cricket is standing at the moment, it’s in search of leadership. When MS Dhoni came in, we were in transition, but he luckily won a World Cup (T20 in 2007) straightaway. After Dhoni, Virat Kohli came in, and he took over. Then Rohit Sharma came and has done fantastically as well. We are always in search of a leader who can take Indian cricket forward.
That’s why Samson might have to miss out to ensure Gill plays. Of course, the wicketkeeper can be tried in the middle-order, but that would be doing an injustice to Samson and those already playing at those positions.
To accommodate Shubman Gill, Sanju might not get a place in the playing XI. It’ll be hard. If he can play down the order, why not? Play Samson at number five. If that can happen, then Jitesh won’t be there, and he can bat in the middle order. But Gill should be playing up the order, as Tilak Varma has done well at number three,” Irfan added.
India squad for Asia Cup 2025
Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh
Standby: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
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