{"id":91707,"date":"2025-08-25T13:41:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T13:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/91707\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T13:41:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T13:41:18","slug":"asia-cup-2025-sanju-samson-sends-strong-message-slams-42-ball-hundred-as-opener-in-kcl-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/91707\/","title":{"rendered":"Asia Cup 2025: Sanju Samson sends strong message, slams 42-ball hundred as opener in KCL | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/123487173.jpg\" alt=\"Asia Cup 2025: Sanju Samson sends strong message, slams 42-ball hundred as opener in KCL\" title=\"Sanju Samson in action in the Kerala Cricket League (Images via X\/@VineethVTwelve &amp; TJSREEJITH)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>Sanju Samson in action in the Kerala Cricket League (Images via X\/@VineethVTwelve &amp; TJSREEJITH) <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/sanju-samson\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sanju Samson<\/a> produced a stunning century in the Kerala Cricket League on Sunday, strengthening his case for a place in India\u2019s playing XI at the upcoming Asia Cup. Leading Kochi Blue Tigers as vice-captain, the wicketkeeper-batter opened the innings in a steep chase of 236 and immediately set the tone. Samson hammered a half-century in just 16 balls before reaching three figures off 42 deliveries, showcasing his ability to adapt under pressure and player higher up the order as well, which is his preferred role in the format. His innings showcased his versatility, having batted lower down at No. 6 in the team\u2019s previous fixture. The knock arrives at a time when Samson\u2019s role in the national side is under heavy discussion. With Shubman Gill returning to the T20I fold as vice-captain, India\u2019s top-order combinations for the Asia Cup have come into sharp focus. Former India captain Ajinkya Rahane believes the opening slots are likely to go to Gill and Abhishek Sharma. \u201cShubman is back in the team, I\u2019m sure he is most likely to open with Abhishek Sharma. Personally, I would like to see Sanju Samson in the team because he has done really well. He is a very confident guy, a very good team man, and that is very important,\u201d Rahane said on his YouTube channel. However, Aakash Chopra offered a contrasting view, suggesting Samson may miss out. \u201cIndia seems to be moving in the direction of an all-format captain. With Shubman Gill\u2019s return, Sanju Samson\u2019s fate has more or less been sealed. He will not feature in the playing XI now. You will not drop Tilak Varma or Hardik Pandya, which means Samson sits out and Jitesh Sharma will likely get the nod again,\u201d Chopra said.<\/p>\n<p>Poll<\/p>\n<p>Should Sanju Samson be included in India&#8217;s playing XI for the Asia Cup?<\/p>\n<p> Samson\u2019s latest display, though, ensures the debate around his selection will only intensify as the Asia Cup approaches, making it near impossible for those in charge to ignore the batter&#8217;s case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sanju Samson in action in the Kerala Cricket League (Images via X\/@VineethVTwelve &amp; TJSREEJITH) Sanju Samson produced a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":91708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[45707,45706,45705,1721,6975,45704,42493,45703,45708,45709,45710,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-91707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-asia-cup-india-playing-11","tag-asia-cup-news","tag-asia-cup-sanju-samson","tag-cricket","tag-sanju-samson","tag-sanju-samson-100","tag-sanju-samson-asia-cup","tag-sanju-samson-century","tag-sanju-samson-kcl","tag-sanju-samson-kcl-century","tag-sanju-samson-runs","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}