Former India wicketkeeper batter Deep Dasgupta explained why the Suryakumar Yadav-led side has made the right call to bench Sanju Samson in the first T20I against South Africa at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. Notably, India featured Jitesh Sharma in the T20I opener against the Proteas. Samson, who featured as an opener in the shortest format of the game after Rohit Sharma's T20I retirement, has suddenly found himself isolated from the playing XI after Shubman Gill returned to the side as the vice-captain.
Why Jitesh Sharma over Sanju Samson?
While featuring as an opener, Samson smashed three centuries and 436 runs at an average of 43.6 and a strike-rate of 180.16 in 2024. This year, Samson has 185 runs in 14 matches at an average of 18.5 and a strike-rate of 120.91. Considering his performance in the middle order, Das Gupta believes that India wants the wicketkeeper to play lower down the order, then Jitesh is the best option as he is a specialist in that regard.
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"It is the right call. If Sanju is not in top three and if the keeper is batting in the middle order you rather play a specialist, a lower order batter than a top order batter. It is not easy batting for two balls or four balls. Jitesh is a specialist in that regard," former India wicket-keeper Deep Dasgupta told PTI.
Samson to be benched in T20 World Cup 2026
India to play nine more matches before featuring in the T20 World Cup 2026, which will take place in India and Sri Lanka. Dasgupta said that he doesn't see a lot of changes being made to the playing XI before the World Cup, which means that Samson could warm the bench once again in the event.
"Nine games to go (before World Cup), I don't see too many changes ahead of the T20 World Cup," he reckoned.
Notably, Samson was part of India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad as well but he was unable to get a single game as the management went with Rishabh Pant as wicketkeeper option.