Bharath Ramaraj
Aeons ago, as the sun faded away in the pink city of Jaipur, a young wicketkeeper-batter’s professional career was about to burn bright. Sanju Samson, all of 18, walked out to bat with his side in a spot of bother at 79 for 4 while chasing 125 against Kings XI Punjab. More than the 27 runs that he scored in that game, it was his temperament that stood out. He seemed unfazed by the big occasion as he steered his side past the finishing line. The front-foot pull that he essayed off Parvinder Awana said something about his raw skills.
Even though Samson didn’t exactly scorch the 2013 IPL with his willow, there were enough signs that he was made for the higher honours. Unfortunately, it took 11 more seasons for Samson to finally cross the 500-run mark in the world of IPL. In 2024, Samson had another reason to smile.
Despite Samson’s twin failures in Sri Lanka, Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir, the new T20I captain and head coach of the Indian set-up, decided to back him to the hilt. And Samson repaid the faith shown in him by compiling three hundreds at the top of the order, against Bangladesh and South Africa. Incidentally, until the T20I series in Sri Lanka, Samson had played only 25 T20I matches, aggregating 374 runs.
Although the tall England pacemen troubled him with the short ball in a subsequent T20I series, Samson had more or less sealed his place as an opener. That is what his legions of fans thought.
Ahead of the 2025 Asia Cup, there was a small twist in the tale. Shubman Gill, India’s Test captain, was back in the national colours for the shortest format. Around 12 months ago, he was named the vice-captain of the T20I squad for the Sri Lanka series. However, the Indian selectors then took a call to select Gill for important assignments in the other two formats before recalling him for the multi-nation tournament in the UAE.
In this context, the only way Samson could be left out of the side is if the Indian backroom staff mull over including Shivam Dube, lower down the order. That is unlikely, however, considering the kind of backing Samson has received from the think-tank. But the subtext to Gill’s recall is that he too prefers to open the batting – He has played at that position in 97 IPL matches and in all of his 21 T20Is.
Recently, in the 2025 IPL, he accumulated 650 runs, batting at that slot. So, will he replace Samson as an opener in the Asia Cup? Abhishek Sharma, the other opener, is currently the No.1-ranked T20I batter.
Logic says Samson should continue to bat at the top along with Abhishek. And Gill can slot in at No.3, with Tilak Varma dropping down the order. Here, it also has to be remembered that Gill has been named Suryakumar’s deputy, which is an indicator that he is going to be a sure starter in the team.
It isn’t just to do with bringing a sense of continuity to the side, but Samson also mostly takes the ball on the rise. And that kind of a game is best suited to bat at the top against the hard new ball.
The larger picture to zoom in on is that the T20 World Cup will be held in India next year. With fierce competition for places, even the incumbent players in the batting unit would know in the back of their minds that they have to keep performing. Who knows? Even Abhishek’s place might come under scrutiny if he fails in a few matches. The same can be said of Samson.
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