Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has backed Sanju Samson’s inclusion in India’s playing XI at Asia Cup 2025 despite losing the opener’s role to Shubman Gill. The Punjab batter, who has been named Suryakumar Yadav’s deputy in the tournament, will make his return to T20Is for the first time since July 2024. Samson, who has played majority of his T20I career as an opener, will now have to bat down the order as Gill is expected to open along with Abhishek Sharma.
Where will Samson fit in India’s XI?
Speaking to Sports Today, Gavaskar opined that Samson was a gifted player who could adapt to any position in the playing XI. The former Indian cricketer reckoned that Sanju could bat at number 5 or 6, depending on the situation. Dubbing the Kerala keeper-batter as a ‘class act’, Gavaskar said that one shouldn’t worry too much about Samson as he was used to batting down the order.
“He can still be in the team as somebody batting down the order. He can bat at 5 or 6. He shouldn’t be left out, after all he’s the wicket-keeper. Sanju is a very gifted player, he can adapt. He is used to batting down the order, we shouldn’t be too worried about him, he’s a class act,” Gavaskar said.
Samson had a phenomenal run in T20Is in the previous calendar year, becoming the only Indian to score three centuries in that period. All three hundreds came while he essayed the role of an opener. However, on Tuesday, chief selector Ajit Agarkar claimed that Samson had opened in T20Is only because Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal were unavailable.
Gavaskar’s India XI for Asia Cup
1. Abhishek Sharma
2. Shubman Gill (VC)
3. Tilak Varma
4. Suryakumar Yadav (C)
5. Sanju Samson (WK)
6. Hardik Pandya
7. Axar Patel
8. Kuldeep Yadav
9. Varun Chakravarthy
10. Jasprit Bumrah
11. Arshdeep Singh
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