India cricket team star Sanju Samson had a witty take on his demotion in the batting order amid the ongoing Asia Cup 2025. Having lost the opener’s role to Shubman Gill, the Kerala keeper-batter was slotted to bat at number five in the tournament. On Wednesday, in the game against Bangladesh, Sanju was demoted further and was slated to bat at number 8.
Samson breaks silence on batting order demotion
Prior to the IND vs BAN Super 4 match, Samson was asked about his thoughts on being asked to bat down the order. Namedropping Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, the keeper-batter said that he was ready to play the role of a villain and that he wasn’t expecting to be a hero always. Samson noted that he couldn’t stake claim for a spot in the top-order just because he had scored runs while batting in the top three.
“There’s our actor, Mohanlal, who got a big award from the Indian government (the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest award in the field of cinema). He has been an actor for 20, 30, 40 years. I have been playing for India for 10 years. So, I can’t come in and say ‘I only can do the hero role.’ I need to be a villain. I need to be a joker. I need to play around,” Samson said.
Samson has batted only in two out of the five matches that he has played in Asia Cup. In the game against Oman, he was promoted to number 3 in order to get some game time and he made the most of it. He played a 56-run knock in that match. Next, in the game against Pakistan, Sanju managed to score just 13 runs off 17 deliveries while he came out to bat at number 5.
“You can’t say that you have scored runs in the opening position and you are really good in the top three spots. I feel let me try this also. No one can say why I can’t be a good villain. Let’s see how it goes,” Samson added.
