India’s squad for Asia Cup 2025: Ajit Agarkar, who is the selector of the Indian cricket team have left the decision of picking India’s openers amongst Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma on the team management but former cricketer Aakash Chopra has reckoned that there are high chances that Sanju Samson would be dropped from the playing XI. Both Abhishek and Samson were the side’s opening pair during the T20I series against England held earlier this year.
Abhishek had a dream run during that series, which also helped him to become the No.1 ICC T20I batter.
Since Samson had been struggling during the last five innings, where he had scored just 51 runs, he had smashed three centuries during the last two T20I series.
Chopra revealed that picking Gill and giving him the responsibility of vice-captaincy had all but finalized that he would be the side’s new opener.
“India seems to be moving in the direction of an all-format captain. With Shubman Gill’s return, Sanju Samson’s fate has more or less been sealed. He will not feature in the playing XI now. You will not drop Tilak Varma or Hardik Pandya, which means Samson sits out, and Jitesh Sharma will likely get the nod again. One thing is very clear from this selection: the batting slots have been prioritised over personalities. With Gill coming in as vice-captain, he will play and open the batting. This essentially pushes Sanju Samson out of the XI,” Chopra was quoted as saying on JioHotstar.
Agarkar was also asked about who would open the innings for India during the upcoming continental tournament, and he replied, “The captain-coach will take the call on the best balance for the team. Once we get to Dubai, we will have a bit more clarity. With more options available now, Shubman has been in great form for the last few months. So has Sanju, so two good options, along with Abhishek,”.
Gill was the second-highest run-getter during IPL 2025, and that was his best performance till now. He had also served as the team’s vice-captain in the 50-over format as well. And at the same time, he also had a dream run during the recently concluded Test series against England both as a batter and a captain, and with the series ending in a 2-2 tie, it only helped his case to become an all-format captain.