Former Indian opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth believes Team India cannot spoil the balance to accommodate Sanju Samson in the Asia Cup. Shubman Gill, who is Suryakumar Yadav’s deputy, is expected to open the innings with Abhishek Sharma.
Meanwhile, Sanju Samson has scored three T20I centuries in the last 12 matches but he could only manage 51 runs in five games against England in 2025 as he was troubled by short-pitched deliveries.
Samson was in fine form in the Kerala Cricket League as he has scored 368 runs in five innings at an average of 73.60 and a strike rate of 186.80 while leading Kochi Blue Tigers.
“You cannot spoil the balance of the team to accommodate Sanju Samson, who failed against England. His IPL this year was not great. While I like him personally, he did not do well in those five games, whereas Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma capitalized that time. Tilak won you games at number three. Look at it from the T20 World Cup. To accommodate a player you should not spoil the balance of the team. You will give a false impression as far as the T20 World Cup is concerned,” he said on his YouTube channel ‘Cheeky Cheeka’.
The 1983 World Cup-winning player backed Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma to open the innings in the continental tournament.
“It has to be Abishek and Shubman opening for sure. If you play Sanju at three, where will you play Tilak Verma? Even though some other senior cricketers have said Sanju Samson can bat at three, in my opinion, he will miss out. I don’t agree on the point that he can play as a finisher,” he stated.
“So Tilak at three, Suryakumar Yadav at number four, Hardik Pandya at number five for sure, Axar Patel at number six. Now if Jitesh Sharma comes at seven, they are going to be confused. If Sanju or Shivam Dube play you will be one bowler short. If you want Jitesh at seven the eight, nine, ten, and eleven will be four bowlers but they may not play like that. So then you play Dube at five,” he added.
India will begin their Asia Cup campaign against the UAE on September 10 in Dubai.
