'Vaibhav Will Get His Opportunities': Sanju Samson Gets Seal Of Approval As India's Preferred T20I Opener

India's T20 World Cup hero Sanju Samson returned to the fold as BCCI named the India squad for the Afghanistan series. Following a string of bad scores, Samson was dropped from India's tour of England.

Samson lit up the T20 World Cup and returned with 3 consecutive scores of 97,89 and 89 and was also adjudged the player of the tournament. But subsequently, he was dropped and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was handed his debut in the UK tour.

But Sooryavanshi didn't impress in the T20I series against England and Samson ultimately was called up to the squad for the Afghanistan series. Now Ajinkya Rahane also backd samson and urged the player to be given ample chances.

On his YouTube channel he said, "I feel the top three should be the same that played in the World Cup. Samson has done well, but he got dropped after two or three bad innings. I want him to get another chance. Abhishek and Ishan also did well for us. Vaibhav will get his opportunities, and his time will come. But for now, I feel the top three should be Samson, Abhishek, and Ishan, who were our contributors in the World Cup."

Rahane further add, "I am happy to see Sanju Samson back in the team. He was the 'Man of the Series' in the World Cup. It has been up and down, and things were happening to him that were not in his control. But he is a match-winner, and his return strengthens the team."

India’s updated squad for Afghanistan T20Is: Shreyas Iyer [C], Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson [WK], Ishan Kishan [WK], Tilak Varma [VC], Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Yash Thakur.

Also Read: What BCCI’s Quiet Update Reveals About Jasprit Bumrah’s Return Ahead Of Asian Games 2026?

India squad for the 2026 Asian Games: Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (VC), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yash Thakur.