Why Sanju Samson deserves to return to his rightful place in Indian Twenty20 team?

With the countdown to the Twenty20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka entering its decisive phase, India’s think tank faces a familiar but critical dilemma, not a lack of options, but clarity of roles. With less than two months to go before the opening match in Colombo, final combinations must move from experimentation to certainty.

However, for the defending champions, India, there seems to be a problem of plenty, and the selection committee, headed by Ajit Ajarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir, has a lot of talent at its disposal. But the key remains in identifying the right players. 

Twenty20 team combination offers scope for all-rounders or utility players to bring variety to test the rivals. But there is scope for only one wicketkeeper, and the team management has opted for Jitesh Sharma, while keeping Sanju Samson on the sidelines during the current series against South Africa. 

It pains to see a prodigious talent like Samson carry drinks, while he rightfully deserves a place in the playing XI. The talented wicketkeeper-batter first showed his remarkable talent during the 2014 Under-19 World Cup in the UAE, and since then, he has only grown stronger.

The 31-year-old, who had been inconsistent in the past, has shown tremendous maturity during his latest run, where he has scored three centuries in five innings as an opener. Samson and Abhishek Sharma had become a deadly combination at the top of the batting order, but the right-hander has lost his opening slot to Shubman Gill and has not been the same force since, before losing his spot to Jitesh Sharma.

Former India opener Robin Uthappa too felt the same and questioned the decision to break the deadly partnership.

Samson is like a Formula One car, and Jitesh, though talented, could be best compared to a passenger car. With Rishabh Pant also in the reckoning, India would do well to bank on these high-value players and push Jitesh Sharma to the reserves.

Samson last played in the second of the five-match Twenty20 series against Australia in Melbourne at the No. 3 spot. For the last six matches, he has been kept on the sidelines.

India face South Africa in the fifth and final match at Ahmedabad on Friday, and all eyes are on Samson. With only five more matches against New Zealand remaining, Samson needs to play at his regular opening slot, and keeping him away is like dropping the trump card.

One might argue that Gill has been successful as an opener in the Indian Premier League, and his consistency will certainly work in his favour. But in Twenty20, a pure batter needs to play in the top four. 

Gill is ideally suited for the No. 3 role, which was played by Virat Kohli in the last decade for India, barring the triumphant campaign in the West Indies and USA in 2024. Samson, who arrived for the Twenty20 series on the back of an unbeaten 73 in India’s domestic Twenty20 tournament against Andhra, deserves to regain his spot at the top of the order.

With a solid player like Gill to follow, both Samson and Abhishek Sharma could maximise the powerplay overs to the fullest and swing the contest firmly in India’s favour.

At this stage of the World Cup cycle, India cannot afford to experiment; it is about consolidation. Samson – statistically and stylistically -  has done enough to merit a place in the playing XI.