IND vs SA: Will Sanju Samson finally open for Team India as hosts take on South Africa in Ahmedabad?
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "IND vs SA: Will Sanju Samson finally open for Team India as hosts take on South Africa in Ahmedabad?")
IND vs SA: Will Sanju Samson finally open for Team India as hosts take on South Africa in Ahmedabad? Photograph: (AFP)
While eyes will be on the performances of key players, including Suryakumar Yadav, Arshdeep Singh and others, it is the opening slot that could be a huge matter of concern. With Shubman Gill unavailable for the Ahmedabad T20I on Friday, Sanju Samson is likely to play in his position.
The Indian team is all set to take the field in the final T20I on Friday (Dec 19) with more questions than answers, with less than a month to go for the T20 World Cup to start. While eyes will be on the performances of key players, including Suryakumar Yadav, Arshdeep Singh and others, it is the opening slot that could be a huge matter of concern. With Shubman Gill unavailable for the Ahmedabad T20I on Friday, Sanju Samson is likely to play in his position.
Will Samson open for India?
With Gill missing out on the fog-spoiled Lucknow contest, Samson is also likely to miss the Ahmedabad T20I. The Indian team could use Samson as the opening option, where he has excelled in the past. He has scored 512 runs in 14 matches, also smashing three hundreds and a fifty in that position. However, Gill’s rise in the T20I side saw Samson dropped down to number five.
Things even went from bad to worse for the new Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) signing as he dropped down further in the pecking order when Jitesh Sharma was promoted to play in the number five position.
With Gill unavailable for the last T20I against Ahmedabad, India will be looking to bring back Samson in the opener’s position. He scored two hundreds during the November 2024 tour of South Africa and was instrumental for the Indian team before Gill broke into the first team.
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Samson’s ability to open also means India already have a back-up option in that position, also meaning Yashasvi Jaiswal could miss out on the T20 World Cup squad. Instead, if Shreyas Iyer is fit, he could be slotted in the squad.
India’s match against South Africa will start at 7:00 pm IST, with the toss taking place at 6:30 pm.
