Shubman Gill was made the vice-captain of the T20I side earlier this year during the Asia Cup. Once the decision to promote him as vice-captain was made, it became inevitable that Gill would be part of all the T20I games India were playing, and to accommodate him at the top, Sanju Samson has been pushed down the order. However, the form of Gill, the T20I player, has been up and down, and Samson was in prime form in his international career before his position was shuffled. Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif also claimed that India is looking at Gill as the next captain in the shorter version of the game, and that is a probable reason Samson lost his spot as an opener.
“If Sanju Samson were playing, there would be no confusion, but with Shubman Gill as vice-captain playing in all matches, Sanju Samson seems sidelined. Jitesh Sharma is seen as a better finisher at number five or six than Sanju, which works in Sharma’s favor. But because Gill is being groomed as a future captain and player, Sanju has lost his spot. Sanju’s record is excellent, strike rate of around 150. But they are backing players by the batting number position now,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
Aakash Chopra slams Sanju Samson
Former India opener Aakash Chopra has slammed the team management for their muddled reasoning for Samson’s demotion from the opening spot since the arrival of vice-captain Shubman Gill and his subsequent snub from the XI.
“The biggest question that is looming large is – what have we decided about Sanju Samson? Sanju not playing is a big, big, big question as to why we are doing like that. We played Sanju and he had done decently as well. I won’t say he had done extraordinarily, but he was okay. You made him bat up the order against Oman and he scored a fifty,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
