Gautam Gambhir hopeful of giving more chances to Sanju Samson

In July 2024, Sanju Samson participated in two T20 internationals in India against Sri Lanka but did not score in either game. After a dismal performance in Gautam Gambhir’s first series as head coach of India, there were high possibilities that Samson’s place in the team was in jeopardy, but he not only stayed put but he is also assured of starting for the Suryakumar Yadav led team in the opening match against Bangladesh. India will play Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series, with the opening match set to be played at the newly constructed New Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, Gwalior on Sunday (October 6).

With neither Yashasvi Jaiswal nor Shubman Gill available, both of whom are rested, it will be up to middle-order batsman Samon to take the place of an opener alongside Abhishek Sharma, who has been out of the last series against Sri Lanka but returns to the T20I team.

Samson has enjoyed playing 30 T20Is for India’s operations since he joined in 2015 and has ventured into the opening slot just five times in T20Is scoring only 77, which is his highest score in his career while also opening the innings. In five innings as an opener, he has made 105 runs. And in the following series which is New Zealand Axed I, will be his last opportunity to book an opening in India’s T20I squad permanently.

Sanju Samson’s performance in T20Is for India

POSITION MATCHES RUNS HIGHEST SCORE AVERAGE STRIKE RATE 100/50 4/6s

1st 2 95 77 47.50 175.92 -/1 12/4

2nd 3 10 8 3.33 90.90 -/- 0/1

3rd 3 33 27 11.00 126.92 -/- 2/2

4th 11 213 58 21.30 129.87 -/1 12/10

5th 5 6 2 30* 20.66 131.91 -/- 7/1

6th 1 12 12 12.00 100.00 -/- 0/1

7th 1 19 19 19.00 79.16 -/- 1/0

Total 26 444 77 19.30 131.36 -/2 34/19

Samson has been part of the Rohit Sharma’s team that bagged the T20 World Cup 2024 title early this year, though he didn’t get to feature in any of the eight matches. For the T20I series against Bangladesh, Samson is chosen ahead of Ishan Kishan and Dhruv Jurel, and it will be the series to either make it or break it for him.

The 29-year-old right-handed batter hails from Kerala and is a fierce top-order batsman. Considering that Gwalior, Delhi, and Hyderabad have good batting wickets and with matches set to take place, it is a wonderful chance for Samson to score a lot of runs and vindicate his selection.

Since Rishabh Pant holds the first position as a wicketkeeper-batter for India in all formats, Samson is under direct competition with squad members like KL Rahul, Jurel, Ishan, and Jitesh Sharma for the secondary goalkeeper position and a lackluster performance will all but kill his chances to play for India in the next year’s Champions Trophy.