Sanju Samson‘s batting position has become uncertain due to Shubman Gill’s addition to the squad and his elevation as vice-captain as well. Shubman Gill opened the batting with Abhishek Sharma in India’s first game in the Asia Cup against UAE. Sanju Samson, who had previously opened with Sharma before Gill came in has become uncertain and this adds intrigueness amongst fans and experts as to where Sanju Samson will bat. Sanju Samson being played at No.5 vs UAE & PAK has created a lot of chatter on social media.
Sanju Samson has been in an outstanding form in the past few years in T20I. With 417 runs at an average of 37.90 and a strike rate of 183.70 in 12 games—including an incredible three hundreds—the stylish batter Sanju Samson has amassed the highest run total among wicketkeepers. Sanju Samson has also had outstanding results in T20 cricket overall over the past 12 months, scoring 739 runs at an average of 35.19 and strike rate of 161.70 in 23 games
Sanju Samson‘s batting position has become uncertain due to Shubman Gill’s addition to the squad and his elevation as vice-captain as well. Shubman Gill opened the batting with Abhishek Sharma in India’s first game in the Asia Cup against UAE. Sanju Samson, who had previously opened with Sharma before Gill came in has become uncertain and this adds intrigueness amongst fans and experts as to where Sanju Samson will bat. Sanju Samson being played at No.5 vs UAE & PAK has created a lot of chatter on social media.
Ahead of the Asia Cup 2025 match against the UAE, most believed that the Indian management would choose Jitesh Sharma over Sanju Samson as the wicketkeeper in the playing XI. The notion gained more prominence, looking at the practice sessions and the inclusion of Shubman Gill in the squad as the vice-captain. As soon as Gill made his return, it was a given that he would open alongside Abhishek Sharma, leaving Samson’s place in jeopardy.
Jitesh showed remarkable form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), hence it was expected that he would be picked ahead of Sanju Samson in the middle-order. However, head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Suryakumar Yadav opted to stick with continuity and not show the door to Samson, looking at how he scored three T20I centuries in the last year, albeit as an opener.
Sanju Samson has scored just 62 runs for India while batting at No.5 at an average of 20.62. His numbers are way better as an opener (522 runs with three centuries). Following Sanju Samson’s demotion in the batting order, Former Indian player Robin Uthappa has send few wise words of advice to Sanju Samson.
Sanju Samson’s competition is Jitesh Sharma- Robin Uthappa
Former Indian batter Robin Uthappa advised wicketkeeper Sanju Samson to became adapted to the finisher role to remain in the national side moving forward. The 30-year-old seemingly found his calling as an opener in the T20I format since the middle of the last year. Sanju Samson has not been requiredto bat in India’s first two Asia Cup 2025 outings, thanks to their dominant wins.
Talking about the Indian batting-order after their seven-wicket win over Pakistan, Robin Uthappa on his Youtube channel said :
“It feels like the India team is operating from a place of there is no batting order for anybody. It’s going to be purely left-right combination driven. Axar’s role will become a pure finisher role along with Hardik, given Dube and Samson’s prowess in the middle overs against spin. And Sanju, if he wants to play in this team for a long time, then he has to switch into the finisher role as well.”
“Right now his competition in the team is Jitesh Sharma, who is also a class act with the bat when he finishes. Yes, he throws his bat around a lot but he does pull off some incredible things. So if Sanju wants to do a favor for himself and his career, he should focus primarily on finishing the innings and batting at the death.” he added
Robin Uthappa also spoke in detail about how Sanju Samson should go in preparation of developing for the Finisher’s role in the shortest format , saying :
“So start with spin thinking you’re going to be playing 18 deliveries in a game ( final six overs). That’ll be around six to eight balls of spin and the rest fast bowlers. In 18 balls, can you get a 45? That should be the best case scenario. Day in and day out that’s what he should be practicing. This will help you get into the headspace of a finisher. So first you get familiar with the role and then refine it as you go along,” he stated.
Sanju Samson has struggled in the middle-order in T20Is, with an average of under 19 from No.3 to 7 in 21 innings.
If Gambhir’s tenure as the head coach is anything to go by, he likes to be flexible with his batting lineup. Hence, it wouldn’t be surprising if Sanju Samson comes to bat at No.3 in the next few matches in the Asia Cup. In the game against the UAE, Suryakumar Yadav came to bat at No.3 after Abhishek Sharma lost his wicket for 30 runs. However, the presence of Tilak Varma in the XI makes things all the more interesting.
Against Pakistan too after the fall fo Gill and Abhishek, India chose to stay with the right left combination formula with skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma taking the crease accompaining an easy chase vs them. This left Sanju Samson in the next slot to come in alongside Shivam Dube but low scoring Asia Cup meant that a abtter with the calibre of Sanju Samson may have to wait longer for his batting chance to come on the cricket field with this Indian Playing XI.
With 2 wins in 2 matches , India is all but into the Super 4s stage of the Asia Cup. UAE beating Oman by 42 runs confirmed it officially as Suryakumar Yadav and his men could use their match vs Oman on the 19th as a practice game before the big Super 4s ahead.
Also Read: Asia Cup 2025: Aakash Chopra Expects Arshdeep Singh To Not Feature Against Pakistan