Delhi: The most talked about the first match of India in the Asia Cup 2025 is about Shubman Gill’s return as vice -captain in the T20 team. Gill’s return has intensified the debate over the team’s opening slot, especially with Sanju Samson’s place.

The team’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar made it clear that Samson was tried as a “workload management” opener in the series against England, South Africa and Bangladesh in the recent past, as players like Gill and Yashasvi were busy in Test cricket at that time.

Ravi Shastri told Samson the most dangerous opener

Former coach Ravi Shastri clearly said that it will not be easy to remove Samson from the opening. They said,
“Sanju is the most dangerous in the top 3. From there you win the match. It should be allowed to stay there. It will not be so easy to include Shubman Gill. If Gill is to be brought then you will have to replace someone else, but Samson should not be removed from opening.”

Shastri finally said, “Sanju should be allowed to play in the team in the same way as he has been playing so far. He is constantly scoring big runs and centuries on the top. There is no need to tease such a player.”

Samson vs. Gill – What do figures say?

Sanju Samson has so far scored 861 runs in 38 T20 matches for India, including three centuries. As an opener, he has scored 522 runs in 17 innings at a strike rate of 178.76, which is the second fastest strike rate among all openers in India.

At the same time, Shubman Gill has scored 578 runs in 21 T20I innings, but his strike rate has been less than 140 and average is 30.42.