Former India all-rounder R Ashwin has weighed in on India’s T20I wicket-keeping conundrum, revolving around Sanju Samson, who lost his opening spot to vice-captain Shubman Gill.
Samson, who had a sensational 2024 calendar year, smashing three centuries, including two in South Africa as keeper-opener, lost the top-order role to Gill in the Asia Cup in September. The Kerala batter has since been juggling between positions in the lower order. In the Australia tour in October, Samson received one innings at No. 3 before being dropped from the XI for wicket-keeper Jitesh Sharma.
Ashwin urged that he was keen to see whether Samson would receive game time at number three in the forthcoming five-match T20I series against South Africa as the build-up to the 2026 T20 World Cup heats up.
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“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’.
“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 (Yadav), Varun (Chakaravarthy), and (Jasprit) 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.
Speaking on the eve of the first T20I in Cuttack on Monday, India captain Suryakumar Yadav said that while Samson had done well in his opportunities as an opener, the slot was deservedly Shubman Gill’s to take when he returned to the fold.
“In terms of Sanju, yes, when he came into the circuit, he batted higher in the order. Other than the openers, I feel everyone has to be very flexible. He did really well when he opened the innings. But Shubman had played before him in the Sri Lanka series. So, he deserved to take that spot,” Suryakumar said.
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