Ravichandran Ashwin opens up on Sanju Samson’s place in India’s playing XI after 1st T20I against South Africa

Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin highlighted that Sanju Samson was always going to find it difficult to break into the Indian team after Shubman Gill was appointed as a vice-captain. Samson didn’t get a chance in the final XI in the opening T20I against South Africa.

Furthermore, the wicket-keeper bat was dropped in the last couple of matches against Australia as Jitesh Sharma was preferred ahead of him. Samson did get his chance in the middle order but came up with ordinary performances.

The flamboyant batter had scored three centuries as an opener and thus many experts felt he was a bit unlucky to be demoted in the batting order.

“There was a lot of talk before the game that Sanju should play, and why is he not being played, and all that. Whenever Sanju is dropped from the team, there is always a discussion, the question of whether he got a fair run, and all that. The moment Shubman Gill came into the side, and as a vice-captain, Sanju was always going to find it difficult to get into the XI,” R Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

“Sanju has not played enough at No.5, and Jitesh Sharma is there in the squad for his finishing abilities. That was the role he played for RCB, so it was always going to be difficult for Sanju. If you are playing Sanju, play him at No.3, use him against spin,” Ashwin added.

Meanwhile, Shubman Gill has not grabbed his opportunity with both hands as he has not even scored a fifty in the last 13 matches.

On the other hand, Ashwin showered praise on Hardik Pandya, who scored an unbeaten knock of 59 runs off just 28 balls to help India post 175 runs on the board.

“India were five down for literally nothing, from there they were able to score freely and get 170 plus. Hardik Pandya played a brilliant knock, it did not seem like he went anywhere from the injury. Looked in pristine form, but South Africa did not have enough ammunition in their bank to restrict India,” Ashwin said.

“The power that Hardik Pandya has, especially against spin. That bat swing is something that I would trade anything for. After watching his innings, I feel like he is supremely confident. He is not thinking about how many wickets have fallen, how much his score is, and all that. The ball is there to hit, he is hitting it. He is very clear in the head, and he is very confident of the way he is batting. There is no replacement for Hardik in India at this point of time, and I hope we can really find one,” Ashwin said of his former teammate.

The second T20I between India and South Africa will be played at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh, on Thursday.