The India Cricket Team‘s next assignment is the IND vs BAN 1st T20I. While the India Cricket Team is ready to take on Bangladesh, there is however a dearth of openers in the team. Save Abhishek Sharma, there are no traditional openers in the team. This has provided the perfect opportunity for Sanju Samson to step up and lead the charge of Team India as the opener of the team.
As Rituraj Gaikwad is playing Irani Cup, he was not selected for the series. On the other hand, the other players from the Test squad like Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal were rested keeping in mind, the upcoming IND vs NZ Test series. With the selectors’ option for a heavily fortified middle order, there is however a lack of openers in the team.
In fact, Sanju Samson is the best option that the Men in Blue has at their disposal. Samson can play anywhere from the top to middle order. In fact in IPL 2024 he promoted himself to number 3 and flourished thoroughly. The same can be expected here when he gets the option to hit the Bangladeshi bowlers from the very beginning of the innings.
Samson in his 26 T20I matches played for India, featured as an opener 5 times. And the stats show that he is in fact much better suited than playing down the order. He has his career-highest score of (77) and enjoys a good average of 21. Furthermore, he has the best strike rate in T20Is when he has opened for the country.
Sanju Samson Batting Position in T20Is
| Batting Position | Inns | 50s | HS | Runs | Avg | S/R |
| Opening | 5 | 1 | 77 | 105 | 21 | 161.54 |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 33 | 11 | 126.92 |
| 4 | 11 | 1 | 58 | 213 | 21.3 | 129.88 |
| 5 | 5 | 0 | 30* | 62 | 20.67 | 131.91 |
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 100 |
| 7 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 79.17 |
| Overall | 26 | 2 | 77 | 444 | 19.3 | 131.36 |
The pressure however will however be on Samson who will be returning to the International setup with back-to-back ducks. Now the 3-match T20I series against Bangladesh would be a perfect opportunity for Samson to showcase his mark and permanently secure his spot in the team.
India Squad for IND vs BAN T20Is
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Riyan Parag, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav
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