Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin is curious to note what kind of role Sanju Samson will get in the five-match T20I series against South Africa. Since Shubman Gill has been appointed as the team’s vice-captain, he is opening the innings with Abhishek Sharma and Samson has been pushed down the order.
Samson had done a terrific job while opening the innings, scoring three centuries and many experts felt he was unlucky to lose out on his preferred batting slot. Furthermore, in the last couple of matches against Australia, Jitesh Sharma was preferred ahead of Samson.
“I want to see if India will give Samson a chance at three, or will they go with Suryakumar and Tilak at three and four. They tried to use Sanju here in Australia. The template had to be changed for Gill came in. Sanju was opening and giving that keeping option. Now that the opening batter and keeper has gone, you are having to accommodate a keeper and finisher down the order. I will be looking forward from India’s perspective, if we are giving role clarity to batters,” Ashwin said on ‘Ash ki Baat’.
Meanwhile, the former off-spinner said South Africa is one team that can match India’s batting prowess.
“I am very keen to watch this T20 series. South Africa is one team that can match us in batting power. I also want to see if they can be real contenders going into the World Cup, looking at their bowling. I don’t see much bowling teeth. Whether they can match up to Kuldeep, Varun, and Bumrah throughout the series will give us a fair idea. It is an important series for India as well, because they have to finalise their XI and batting positions and role clarities. We have experimented a lot. We will need some stability,” he added.
Opening up on India’s bowling attack, Ashwin said he doesn’t see a point in dropping Arshdeep Singh, who is India’s highest wicket-taker in T20Is. Furthermore, he questioned whether the team management can afford to play Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy together.
“I want to see continuity and role clarity with Arshdeep. I don’t see a reason to drop him. He should not be dropped. Can they accommodate both Varun and Kuldeep? I feel it is important to do so. If there is dew only then you can look at a third seamer. I feel we have to go with a good bowling attack. Bumrah, Arshdeep, Varun, Kuldeep, and Hardik Pandya. These bowlers can always help us restrict the opponent to lesser than par scores and they can also defend. I would love to see this attack starting off,” he said.
The first T20I between India and South Africa will be played at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, on Tuesday.
