After Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retired from T20I cricket in June 2024, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal became the incumbent openers. Both not only played against Zimbabwe in July but also finished as the tour’s top scorers.
However, the meteoric rise of Abhishek Sharma and the management’s decision to prioritise Test cricket over T20Is saw both Gill and Jaiswal skip the shortest format of the game. The latter hasn’t played for India in T20Is since July 2024, while the former returned only in the 2025 Asia Cup.
During this period, Abhishek and Sanju Samson formed one of the best T20I partnerships you’ll ever witness. They terrorised bowlers during this 12-month period. But the successful partnership was broken when Gill returned. In months prior, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had named Gill as Test and ODI captain. Furthermore, he was named deputy to Suryakumar in July 2024. It seemed like a push to make him India’s all-format captain.
Why was Gill picked over Samson?
His performance didn’t justify removing Samson as the second opener, but that’s what happened. But why? Suryakumar was asked this question before the India vs South Africa 1st T20I. He simply said that Gill deserved the spot since he was the incumbent opener before Samson came into the picture.
“We don’t want to change too much in terms of combinations. The focus is simply on the type of cricket we want to play; apart from that, there’s nothing major we want to alter. Sanju is a batter who can play higher up the order. He has done well as an opener. Shubman played ahead of Sanju because he deserved that spot, but we still ensured Sanju got opportunities,” Suryakumar told reporters in Cuttack.
The Indian T20I captain also stated that the only fixed position in the team is the openers. We’ve seen that Suryakumar has demoted himself a few times already, and Samson was once listed at number eight. From his words, we can expect these things to continue.
“Apart from the openers, everyone else needs to be flexible. They must adapt. Both of them are very much in our plans—both can perform multiple roles. It’s an asset for the team and a good headache to have,” he added.
Shubman Gill vs Sanju Samson: T20I stats comparison
| Batter | Matches | Runs | Highest Score | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shubman Gill | 19 | 502 | 66 | 33.46 | 136.04 | 0 | 2 |
| Sanju Samson | 13 | 417 | 111 | 34.75 | 182.89 | 3 | 0 |
