India’s T20I captain, Suryakumar Yadav, on Saturday, October 5, confirmed Indian wicketkeeper-batter, Sanju Samson’s new role. Speaking ahead of the first T20I, set to be played on Sunday, October 6 at the New Madhavrao Scindia cricket Stadium in Gwalior, confirmed that Samson will open the innings, alongside Abhishek Sharma.
The Men in Blue will kick start the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh on Sunday with the first match set to be played in Gwalior. The two teams will next travel to Delhi for the second T20I, scheduled to be played on Wednesday, October 9, followed by a match in Hyderabad on October 12.
Sanju Samson to open alongside Abhishek Sharma in T20I series against Bangladesh
Samson, who has been in and out of the national side since his debut in 2015, will open the innings alongside Abhishek Sharma. The decision to promote Samson to the top of the order comes as India’s squad for the upcoming T20I series includes only one designated opener in Abhishek Sharma.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference in Gwalior, captain Suryakumar Yadav said, “Sanju Samson will play and open the batting in this series, going forward with Abhishek Sharma.” Although the 29-year-old has had limited success as an opener for India, but his experience over the years brings him to the top of the order. Moreover, this experiment with combinations comes seeing the future major tournaments, including the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in 2027.
It is to be noted that Samson has previously opened the batting for India in just five of his 30 T20I matches so far. The 29-year-old has had mixed results, while his most notable knock came against Ireland in 2022, where he scored 77 runs. Although, this opportunity for Samson comes as a crucial move with Rishabh Pant being rested from the series and Ishan Kishan continuing to be ignored by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
India’s updated squad for the T20I series against Bangladesh
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Riyan Parag, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav, Tilak Varma