Sanju Samson to bat at new position in Asia Cup 2025? Wicketkeeper batter's slots at No.5 in local league sparks speculation

India wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson, who was promoted as an opener after Rohit Sharma's retirement from the shortest format of the game, has slotted himself at the No. 5 spot in the Kerala Cricket League. Featuring in the opener clash of the tournament, Samson gave up his opening slot to Vinoop Manoharan and Jobin Joby of Kochi Blue Tigers, putting himself down in the lower middle order.

However, Samson didn't face a single ball in the innings as Saly Viswanath's brilliant half-century helped the Tigers reach the required target of 98 runs in just 11.5 overs. Samson's batting change has sparked speculation about whether the batter is featuring as a middle-order batter because he is at risk of being snubbed out of the opener's slot from India's Asia Cup side.

Samson, who was promoted as an opener, is likely to be removed from the position as Shubman Gill made a comeback in T20Is as he will be Suryakumar Yadav's deputy in the upcoming edition of the Asia Cup 2025.

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India's top order for batting has been packed with Tilak Varma and captain Suryakumar Yadav are locked into No. 3 and No. 4. Hence, the fans are speculating that Samson, desperate to get himself into the playing XI as the preferred wicketkeeper-batter, is trying his luck at the No. 5 spot.

However, the BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar said that the captain and head coach will decide in Dubai about the playing XI for the Asia Cup 2025.

Samson has not batted much in the middle order position in T20Is. Donning India jersey, he played 5 matches in the No. 5 position and has scored only 62 runs at a strike rate of 131.91. In the Indian Premier League, he has batted only 3 times in that position and scored a total of 34 runs.

India’s squad for Asia Cup: Surya Kumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh

Standby players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel