There was much anticipation whether Sanju Samson will find a spot in India’s playing XI for their Asia Cup 2025 opener against UAE last night (September 10), especially with the return of Shubman Gill back into the T20I fold.
Gill’s comeback at the top of the order meant sacrificing Sanju as an opener, a position he has made his own with some promising displays over the last year. However, the management did not completely ignore him, slotting him out of position in the middle order at No.5.
This move to push Sanju down in the order was not appreciated by former India cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth, who revealed that there is an ulterior motive in bringing Shreyas Iyer back. Iyer, who missed the cut for Asia Cup, is a proper middle-order batter and is more suitable to the role.
Furthermore, he issued a caution to the wicketkeeper-batter suggesting that the continental tournament could be his last chance to prove himself.
Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth said,
“I somehow feel by making Sanju bat at 5, they are making way for Shreyas Iyer to return to the side. Sanju hasn’t batted much at 5 and he shouldn’t bat at that position either. It will dent his confidence batting at No. 5. I am not too happy for him. To Sanju, I would warn him by saying that this is his last chance. I would also tell him if he fails to score in the next or three innings at this position, Shreyas Iyer will replace him.”
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To give perspective to what Srikkanth said, Sanju’s numbers as an opener are far superior compared to his stats in the middle order.
As opener, the 30-year-old has scored 522 runs at an ave 32.62 and fiery strike rate of 178.76, which includes three centuries and a fifty. On the other hand, batting in the middle order, Sanju has 306 runs from 18 innings, with his average down to 20.40 while his strike rate goes down to 123.88.
Preempting that his opener spot could be in doubt for the Asia Cup, Sanju had tried batting at No.6 in the Kerala Cricket League (KCL 2025) prior to the start of the multi-nation event. However, he couldn’t deliver scoring just 13 runs and swiftly made the switch back at the top, where he blasted three fifties and a century in five innings.
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