{"id":341533,"date":"2025-12-11T11:02:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T11:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/341533\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T11:02:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T11:02:10","slug":"india-vs-south-africa-its-not-sanju-samson-vs-jitesh-sharma-its-sanju-samson-vs-shubman-gill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/341533\/","title":{"rendered":"India vs South Africa: It\u2019s not Sanju Samson vs Jitesh Sharma. It\u2019s Sanju Samson vs Shubman Gill\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, it has not been an ideal few months for Sanju Samson in international cricket. With the T20 World Cup fast approaching, Samson\u2019s chances of finding a place<\/a> in the XI look bleak. How did this happen to someone who had been clearing the ropes at will in the T20I format until late last year?<\/p>\n

Sanju Samson has endured a roller-coaster ride in international cricket that many would dread. After making his debut in 2015 at the age of 21, he had to wait five more years for another opportunity in the T20I side. Despite amassing runs in the IPL, a return to the senior national team continued to elude him until he eventually got his break in 2020. However, consistent opportunities remained few and far between.<\/p>\n

It was only during Rahul Dravid\u2019s tenure as head coach that Samson finally received a steady run. Even though he had played a considerable number of T20Is before the 2024 T20 World Cup, Samson warmed the benches as the reserve wicketkeeper during India\u2019s historic campaign. He was always on the fringes but never quite able to force the door open.<\/p>\n

That changed after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from T20Is. Samson began receiving consistent opportunities\u2014this time as an opener\u2014under head coach Gautam Gambhir. Settled at the top of the order, Samson forged a fearsome opening partnership with Abhishek Sharma as he anchored India\u2019s ultra-aggressive T20I approach under new captain Suryakumar Yadav and coach Gambhir.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The results were immediate: he struck three hundreds in a span of five matches<\/a> in late 2024.<\/p>\n

Just when it appeared Samson was close to cementing his place in the XI as an opener, he was pushed down the order upon Shubman Gill\u2019s return. Gill, who had struck a T20I hundred in 2023, had not been in the scheme of things until he was dramatically recalled and appointed vice-captain for the Asia Cup, months after he had led India in Tests for the first time.<\/p>\n

Yes, Gill has been scoring truckloads of runs in the Indian Premier League and produced a record-breaking run in Tests in England earlier this year, but India disrupted an opening partnership that was proving productive.<\/p>\n

Samson had to vacate the opening slot and move into an unfamiliar middle-order role, where his returns began to dry up. Eventually, he made way for Jitesh Sharma, who has established himself as a handy finisher and an excellent wicketkeeper.<\/p>\n

Samson was dropped from the XI midway through India\u2019s tour of Australia in October, with Jitesh taking over the gloves. In the first T20I of the South Africa series in Cuttack on Tuesday, 9 December, Jitesh kept wickets as India hinted at their preferred combination for the T20 World Cup, ahead of which they will play nine more T20Is.<\/p>\n

Although Samson was given opportunities in the middle order, it became clear the senior batter was far more comfortable as an opener. However, the team management, including captain Suryakumar, made it clear that Gill would continue opening with Abhishek. Suryakumar went so far as to say that every batter<\/a>, barring the openers, needed to be flexible and ready to adapt to different positions.<\/p>\n

THE RIGHT JITESH CALL<\/p>\n

There is no doubt that India have made the right call by entrusting Jitesh Sharma with the gloves and the finisher\u2019s role. Crucially, he has not been asked to do something unfamiliar.<\/p>\n

With the middle order settled\u2014Tilak Varma at No. 4, Hardik Pandya at No. 5, and Shivam Dube at No. 6\u2014Jitesh merits his place as a finisher at No. 7.<\/p>\n

In 16 matches in 2025 in the lower middle order, the Baroda wicketkeeper-batter scored 284 runs at an average of 40.57 and a staggering strike rate of 186.84. In RCB\u2019s victorious IPL 2025 campaign, he struck 261 runs at a strike rate of 176.35 in 11 innings.<\/p>\n

By contrast, Samson has not batted below No. 5 in any of his T20 outings in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fair call because if you are looking to bat Sanju Samson lower down the order, you are going to make things difficult for yourself. It\u2019s because Samson has batted as an opener throughout his career, or at No. 3. When you step down the batting order, it becomes difficult,\u201d former India fast bowler Irfan Pathan told JioStar.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that he didn\u2019t perform well at No. 5 or No. 6. He played well in the Asia Cup. But, if you have to choose one from the two, pick the ideal one for the situation, you have to have a set plan going forward. India are looking to go ahead with Jitesh Sharma. Hopefully, it continues,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But it is not Jitesh Sharma with whom Sanju Samson is competing for a place.<\/p>\n

It is Shubman Gill.<\/p>\n

Gill\u2019s numbers since returning as an opener have been far from impressive. In 13 matches, he has managed 263 runs at an average of 26.30 and a strike rate of 143.71. Compare this with Samson\u2019s figures from last year: 436 runs at 43.60 and a strike rate of 180.16 in 13 matches.<\/p>\n

\u201cSanju Samson\u2019s place will be created at the top if Shubman Gill doesn\u2019t perform. There will be pressure on Gill. I think there will definitely be discussion about Gill. Looking at the way Gill has batted, it looks he is a little confused. At the top of the order, Samson hit three centuries. Now, the team brought Shubman Gill, hoping he would give stability. But, as of now, he has not been able to provide stability. He is trying to do something different,\u201d Pathan said.<\/p>\n

WHAT IS GILL’S PROBLEM?<\/p>\n

Gill is yet to score a fifty as an opener in T20Is this year. Since the Australia tour, he has crossed 40 only once in six innings. In the series opener in Cuttack on Tuesday, Gill got out for 4. <\/a><\/p>\n

Former India opener Aakash Chopra wondered whether Gill is trying to move away from his natural game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the Indian team wants from him is very important. We need to understand the role that is defined for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, it looks like there is an overarching shadow of Sanju Samson on him. There is a feeling that he is playing in Samson\u2019s place. If he is playing in Samson\u2019s place, then he is probably trying to play at Samson\u2019s pace. If he doesn\u2019t, there is a lot of conversation. \u2018Yes, Shubman Gill is scoring, but he is not able to do what Samson did\u2019. That\u2019s one thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecondly, I think he is obligated to play big shots early on. It\u2019s not like Gill can\u2019t score quickly. In the last season of the IPL, he scored 650 runs at a strike rate of 150. 150 is not bad, but he is trying to score at 200 and that\u2019s not working out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gill will, of course, continue to get an extended run at the top of the order. However, if he is unable to find form before the T20 World Cup, India have a ready replacement waiting.<\/p>\n

Hopefully, rigidity does not come at the expense of common sense as India look to defend their crown at home.<\/p>\n

– Ends<\/p>\n

Published By: <\/p>\n

Akshay Ramesh<\/p>\n

Published On: <\/p>\n

Dec 11, 2025<\/p>\n

Tune In<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yes, it has not been an ideal few months for Sanju Samson in international cricket. With the T20…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,189637,145962,61001,189638,189639,189640,85],"class_list":["post-341533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-india-t20-world-cup-team","tag-india-vs-south-africa","tag-jitesh-sharma","tag-sanju-samson-t20-world-cup","tag-shubman-gill-t20i","tag-shubman-gill-vs-jitesh-sharmanbsp","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}