Sanju Samson won’t play! Ashwin thinks Shubman Gill will open with Abhishek Sharma in Asia Cup

Since playing his first game under Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav, no one has scored more runs or hundreds than Sanju Samson for India in T20Is.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) decision to name Shubman Gill as vice-captain for the Asia Cup 2025 could prove costly for Sanju Samson. As openers, both will be fighting for the same spot, considering Abhishek Sharma has cemented his place.

Samson’s spot in danger

But making someone the vice-captain basically means they’ll be in the starting XI. That would mean that Gill will be higher in the pecking order than Samson. Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also believes the same. He thinks Samson won’t play at all in the Asia Cup.

“I’m very sad for Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer. But there’s something that will make me even sadder, and there’s a high chance of this happening. You have already announced Shubman Gill as India’s vice-captain, so Sanju Samson’s spot is in danger. And he will go out of the team,” Ashwin said on his YouTube show Ash ki Baat.

Can Samson play without opening?

No doubt Samson has flexibility. He has played T20Is for India at all batting positions from number one to seven. But all of his success for India has come while opening in the last 13 months. And competition for other spots is intense.

Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav are locked in at numbers three and four. Samson can play at five, but even for the Rajasthan Royals, he plays in the top three. India might want Shivam Dube at five, because he’s a left-hander who can smash spin and also bowl a couple of overs.

If not Dube, then Hardik Pandya can also play there with Jitesh Sharma to follow, or perhaps even Rinku Singh or Axar Patel.

“Sanju won’t play down the order. He is not going to play. Because Gill will open. The only way both can play is if Gill plays at three and Sanju opens. That won’t happen,” Ashwin added.

Most runs in T20Is for India since July 10, 2024