Sanju Samson makes India’s XI for Asia Cup 2025 opener vs UAE. Captain Suryakumar Yadav opts to bowl first due to pitch and dew. Samson slots in at No. 5, exciting fans despite earlier doubts over his selection.
Team India wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson has made it to the playing XI for the Men in Blue’s opening match of the Asia Cup 2025 against the hosts, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday, September 10.
India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, entered the eight-time continental tournament as the defending champions, looking to kickstart their campaign on a winning note against the UAE and set the tone for a strong Asia Cup title defence. The Men in Blue have headed into their opener as favourites to win the match, given their experience, strong form, and a well-balanced squad.
Sanju Samson finds a place in India’s XI
Team India captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and decided to bowl first to kick off their Asia Cup title. Fresh wicket, humidity, and a dew factor later in the match were the key reasons behind Yadav’s decision to bowl first, allowing the batters to take advantage of easier batting conditions under the lights.
“We’ll bowl first. Looks a nice fresh wicket. Humid also today, might be dew later. If we get an opportunity, we’re flexible to do anything, but today we want to bowl. We came here early, had 3-4 good practice sessions, and also a day off,” Suryakumar told Sanjay Manjrekar at the toss.
One of the biggest news from India’s playing XI is the inclusion of Sanju Samson for the opening match against the UAE. Earlier, it was reported that the Kerala cricketer was unlikely to get picked in the team as management was expected to give a nod to Jitesh Sharma, who had more batting sessions in the nets compared to Samson, but the team management ultimately decided to back Samson’s experience.
In the playing XI, Samson has been slotted to the No.5 spot from the opening spot, as Team India management went with the opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill.
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Sanju Samson’s inclusion in India’s playing XI marked his first outing in the International Cricket Council (ICC) or Asian Cricket Council (ACC) tournament. Samson was part of the Indian squad that won the T20 World Cup last year, but did not get a single game as Rishabh Pant was the preferred wicketkeeper-batter for the Men in Blue in the marquee event.
Netizens’ ecstatic over Samson’s inclusion
As India’s playing XI for the Asia Cup 2025 opener against the UAE, netizens were quite ecstatic over Samson’s inclusion, flooding social media with praise and excitement to watch him in action.
Taking to their X handles (formerly Twitter), the fans were quite elated to see Sanju Samson’s name in India’s playing XI, while slamming the earlier reports of his possible exclusion from the team for the opener against the UAE.
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Sanju Samson has been given a long rope since the T20I series against Bangladesh after Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill stepped away from the format to focus on red-ball cricket. Samson was paired with Abhishek Sharma at the top–order and was quite impressive with his batting.
In the last three T20I series against Bangladesh, South Africa, and England, Sanju amassed 417 runs, including three centuries, at an average of 37.90 in 12 matches. He was the first Indian player to score two consecutive centuries in T20I history.