For the fourth time in India’s last six T20Is since the Asia Cup in September, Sanju Samson was rested to make way for Jitesh Sharma in the playing XI. Primarily an opener, and having proved his worth in that role since the end of the last T20 World Cup in June, the wicketkeeper-batter was pushed into a middle-order position after the BCCI unveiled their ‘ Shubman Gill plan’ and marked his return to T20Is during the Asia Cup.
After a brief run of just five innings in the new role, Samson was dropped as India opted for a specialist finisher in Jitesh, who also keeps wickets.
On Tuesday, Samson missed out for the fourth straight match, with Jitesh retained for the series opener against South Africa in Cuttack. The call sparked both sympathy and a harsh dose of reality from former players.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, former Kolkata Knight Riders team director Joy Bhattacharjya said there was little point in keeping Samson in the T20I squad if Gill had been locked in as India’s T20 World Cup opener next February. He argued that pushing a proven opener, who has scored three centuries in the role in the past year, into the middle order made little sense when selectors could instead pick another wicketkeeper-finisher like Rishabh Pant.
“If you’re not going to bat Sanju up the order, then keeping him really doesn’t make sense. You might as well keep Rishabh Pant, who is used to batting at 4, 5, 6, because Sanju Samson has proven himself, he’s scored three centuries at the top and done really well for you there. If you’ve fixed that spot and Shubman has taken it, then your keeper has to be a finisher, which is Jitesh. I think India has gone with that and decided this is the process. In that case, I would bring in a second finisher-keeper as backup, because it makes more sense to go down that road rather than have Sanju batting out of position. There’s no point,” he said.
Since 2023, Samson has the second-best strike rate (182.89) among all active batters who have opened for India, standing only behind Abhishek Sharma (196.55). In 13 innings over the last two years, he has scored 417 runs, including three centuries.
Former South Africa all-rounder Shaun Pollock, who was part of the same panel, felt Samson was unfortunate, especially after the BCCI elevated Gill into the ‘Virat Kohli-Rohit Sharma’ bracket, a status he reinforced with his performances in the Test series in England.
“Yes, Sanju got a raw deal. But, you know, those opportunities are often created by people being injured or being rested, whatever it may be, and players step up and perform. I suppose you kind of need to look at Shubman Gill from a different perspective now. I think he is almost being elevated to the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. And when they came back into teams, where did they go? They went back into their position. It wasn’t a case of shifting them down,” Pollock said.
“I think what he’s shown, even in that Test series in England, is that he’s the number one, isn’t he, batting-wise? So I get the fact that he was the man in possession, and with the stature that he has, it’s a rough one on Sanju because he’s played so well and he hasn’t disappointed when he’s been given the chance. It’s just team dynamics. When Shubman comes back, and I’m glad he’s recovered from his neck injury, I think he’s the best player, so he goes to the top. And you also look at the partnership he’s formed with Abhishek over the years. They know each other’s game really well and bounce off each other nicely.”