Sanju was playing because Shubman and Yashasvi were not available, reveals Ajit Agarkar after Asia Cup squad announcement

India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar has made an interesting remark after announcing the Asia Cup squad in Mumbai on Tuesday. Agarkar said Sanju Samson was playing T20Is because Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal were not available earlier.

While Gill has been named as the vice-captain for the continental tournament, Jaiswal has been added as a stand-by player in the squad. Meanwhile, Samson has been opening the innings since the 2024 T20 World Cup with Abhishek Sharma and both the batters have done a good job at the top of the order.

Samson has scored three T20I centuries and has grabbed his chances with both hands. 

The RR captain scored 285 runs in nine matches of IPL 2025 at an average of 35.63 and a strike rate of 140.39. The flamboyant right-hander has amassed 861 runs in 42 T20I matches at an average of 25.32 and a strike rate of 152.39.

“Sanju was playing because Shubman and Yashaswi were not available at that point. So was Abhishek. Abhishek’s performances clearly make it hard to leave him out. Plus, his bowling is handy. But, like I said, he (Gill) was the vice-captain the last time he played T20 cricket. That was after the last World Cup,” Agarkar said at the press conference on Tuesday.

India Squad for Asia Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.

India, eight-time Asia Cup champions, open their campaign against the UAE at the Dubai International Stadium on September 10.