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Wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson returned to the playing eleven in the fifth and final T20I of the series against South Africa on December 19. Replacing an injured Shubman Gill, Samson opened the batting alongside Abhishek Sharma instead of batting in the middle order, a role given to him during the T20 Asia Cup 2025. Samson was able to get India off to a flyer and scored 37 runs from 22 balls. After India’s 30-run win at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, to win the series, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan asked Samson whether the communication from the team management has been clear with him or not.
“Irfan bhai jaisa team ka mahaul bahut zaruri hai. Bada tournament aane wala hai, lekin mein bhi system mein itna reh chuka hu, experience bhi hai to pata hai team management kya karna chah raha hai. Surya aur Gautam Gambhir ke saath mere ache sambandh hai to humesha khulkar baatcheet hoti hai (The team environment, as Irfan bhai mentioned, is very important. A big tournament is coming up, but I've been in the system for so long and have enough experience, so I knew what the management was trying to do. I have a good relationship with Surya and Gautam bhai, so we always have open and frank conversations), Samson told the broadcaster after India’s 3-1 series win.
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Pathan further asked that if the conversation is crystal clear, will he see Samson opening the batting regularly with T20I series against New Zealand coming up next month leading up to the World Cup. Samson tried to evade the question. His answer left Pathan and Varun Aaron in splits.
"Bhaiya aap open kara do open. Me kya bolu yaar. Aise sawal nahi puch sakte Irfan bhai aap. (Brother, you make me open, what else can I say! You can’t ask questions like these Irfan bhai),” Samson said.
Samson shared a 63-run opening partnership with Abhishek. The wicketkeeper-batter hit four fours and two sixes in his comeback game as opener. In the 10th over, he was knocked over by left-arm spinner George Linde.
India to continue with Samson as opener or back to Gill?
The 31-year-old averages nearly 33 in T20Is as opener with 559 runs from 18 innings featuring three tons. His strike rate as opener is 178.02.
Since the T20 Asia Cup 2025, he has been used as floater which hasn't helped his case. Earlier in the series, Jitesh Sharma batted in the middle order while Samson was benched. It will be interesting to see whether the team management goes back to Samson as opener or give Gill another chance to prove himself against the Kiwis ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026.
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