Sanju Samson's Decisive Career-Saving Move Fails, Sudden Change In Wicketkeeper-Batter's Gameplan Raises Questions On India's Asia Cup 2025 Squad

Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar and India's T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav unveiled India's squad for the Asia Cup on August 19, 2025. Though most of the squad was on the expected line, a few surprising calls have been the talk of the town and raise some serious questions on the team composition and Gautam Gambhir's plans for the upcoming continental tournament. India start their Asia Cup campaign on September 10, 2025, with a match against the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Shubman Gill's inclusion in the T20I side and his appointment as the vice-captain has raised a lot of eyebrows. It has been over 350 days since Gill last played a T20I for India. The 25-year-old youngster's services were predominantly being used in the ODI and the Test format, and now his sudden return in the shortest international format has created a lot of doubt around Sanju Samson's batting number in the Indian T20I team.

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Samson Demotes Himself In Kerala Cricket League

Sanju Samson has been opening the batting for the Indian T20I side alongside Abhishek Sharma for quite some time now. The duo has also enjoyed a lot of success and has gotten India off to some fiery starts in the shortest international format. Apart from the top two slots, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav have been pretty settled in the number three and number four slot, but Shubman Gill's return to the Indian team changes everything, and changes in the batting order are bound to happen.

The ongoing Kerala Cricket League has grabbed a lot of eyeballs now as India's regular T20I opener Sanju Samson demoted himself and batted at number six. It is being seen as an indication that Samson will have to vacate the opening slot for Gill, and he might have to bat lower down the order if he plays the Asia Cup. Unfortunately for Samson, this move did not reap desired results for him. The wicketkeeper-batter could not hit any boundaries and scored just 13 runs off 22 deliveries.

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Dissecting Sanju Samson's Record As The Indian Opener In T20Is

Sanju Samson might have to vacate the opener's slot for Shubman Gill in the upcoming 2025 edition of the Asia Cup, but that doesn't take the fact away that he has been nothing but stellar at the top of the batting order for India. As an opener, the star wicketkeeper-batter scored 522 runs at an average of 32.63 from 17 innings. Samson also has three ducks to his name, but more often than not, he has been impressive at the top of the order.