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The moment it was announced that Shubman Gill would be India's vice-captain in the Asia Cup, Sanju Samson's demise was sealed. The batter wicketkeeper had been India's opener for the past 12 months, but only because the management chose to rest Gill in the first place. 

 

In the opinion of Irfan Pathan, Samson's chance to be included in India's Playing XI at the Asia Cup is very tough. Abhishek Sharma makes the team even ahead of Gill, keeping in view his contribution. And as Jitesh Sharma gave a superb performance for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Gill can be an opener, and Jitesh can become the finisher and wicketkeeper. 

 

Here is what Irfan said in an interaction arranged by Sony Sports Network:

 

“Sanju has done really well. There is one question mark in terms of his consistency. Either he scores hundreds or gets out cheaply. Obviously, Abhishek Sharma will be there because he can bowl and has an astounding (batting) strike rate. Because Jitesh Sharma has got in the side, they have the option to play Shubman Gill (as an opener). I’ll be tempted to go that way,” 

 

The retired all-rounder mentioned how Indian cricket's quest for a next all-format skipper has provided Gill an opportunity out of the blue. They are looking for a replacement for Rohit Sharma, and currently, Gill is the best guy they have. 

 

“Where Indian cricket is standing at the moment, it’s in search of leadership. When MS Dhoni came in, we were in transition, but he luckily won a World Cup (T20 in 2007) straightaway. After Dhoni, Virat Kohli came in, and he took over. Then Rohit Sharma came and has done fantastically as well. We are always in search of a leader who can take Indian cricket forward. To accommodate Shubman Gill, Sanju might not get a place in the playing XI. It’ll be hard. If he can play down the order, why not? Play Samson at number five. If that can happen, then Jitesh won’t be there, and he can bat in the middle order. But Gill should be playing up the order, as Tilak Varma has done well at number three,” Irfan added.

 

That is why Samson could have to sit out for Gill to get a game. Of course, one could experiment with the wicketkeeper in the middle-order, but it would be doing injustice to Samson and players already present at those slots.

 

Team India's full squad for Asia Cup 2025:

 

Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh

 

Standby: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

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