The Suryakumar Yadav-led side are currently preparing for the Asia Cup 2025, which is scheduled to start from September 9 in Dubai. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have already announced India's squad for the mega event, where Shubman Gill has been added to the side as Suryakumar Yadav's deputy. With Gill's inclusion in the squad as vice-captain, the threat looms over Sanju Samson's inclusion in India's playing XI for the continental tournament.
Samson had a brilliant 2024, where he slammed 436 runs at 43.60 along with a strike rate of 180.16, hitting three tons and a fifty, with most of the runs coming as an opener. Even in his most recent outing in the ongoing Kerala Cricket League (KCL), the wicketkeeper-batter has scored 121 (51), 89 (46), 62 (37) and 83 (41) in his last four innings for the Kochi Blue Tigers. Hence, it would be naive for India not to make the best of its excellent run of form.
Considering his past performances, cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar believes that Samson should play at No. 3 or bat down the order as a finisher at six in the upcoming Asia Cup 2025.
"It’s a very good headache to have for any selection committee that you have two capable batters and somebody like Sanju Samson who can maybe even bat at three, and if needed come down at six as a finisher. Jitesh has also done well in the recently concluded IPL. But my feeling is that Samson will probably get the nod," Gavaskar told Sony Sports Network as quoted by Cricket.com.
"Looking at the way he batted in this T20 format in the IPL, it was a no-brainer. He has been very successful in the T20 format for the IPL, so there is no question that he has the capability of doing well in T20. In the kind of form that he is in, where he has scored more than 750 runs in the just concluded Test series, that really augurs well even for the T20 tournament."
Defending champions India will start their Asia Cup 2025 campaign on September 10 against UAE at Dubai International Stadium in Dubai. The tournament's high-voltage clash between India and Pakistan will also take place at the same venue on September 14.
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