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Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has thrown his weight behind wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson, insisting that he should feature in the starting XI for the ACC Asia Cup 2025 rather than remain in the reserves.
Speaking to Indian media on Friday, Gavaskar said excluding a player of Samson’s calibre would be a mistake, stressing his ability to adapt across the batting order.
“If you include Sanju Samson in the core squad, then you can’t have him sitting in the reserves,” Gavaskar said. “He’s someone who can bat at number three if needed, or even drop down the order as a finisher.”
The legendary opener acknowledged that India also has options in Jitesh Sharma, who impressed during the latest IPL season, but called it a “good headache” for the selectors.
“My feeling is that Samson might get the nod ahead of Jitesh for the first couple of games, and then it depends on his form for the rest of the tournament,” Sunil Gavaskar predicted.
He also suggested that the management could experiment with Samson at number three, leaving Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya to provide finishing power in the middle and lower order.
India will begin their Asia Cup campaign on September 10 against the UAE in Dubai, before facing arch-rivals Pakistan on September 14. Their final group-stage fixture will be against Oman on September 19 in Abu Dhabi.
India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad
Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson.
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