3 reasons why Sanju Samson should open for India instead of Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill took the opening slot from Sanju Samson after returning to T20Is earlier this year.

As the countdown for ICC T20 World Cup 2026 has begun, the talks about Indian Cricket Team’s combination for the tournament are doing the rounds among fans. While the Men in Blue have a strong set of batters and bowlers in the shortest format, discussion regarding the opening combination has heated up amid Shubman Gill’s batting struggles and Sanju Samson’s ouster.

Notably, Samson and Abhishek Sharma were the openers for India at the beginning of 2025. However, as Gill returned to the shortest format ahead of Asia Cup 2025 in September, he captured the opening slot, with Samson moving to the middle-order. Moreover, Jitesh Sharma has also been preferred over Samson as a wicket-keeper batter due to his excellence down the order.

Interestingly, with Samson vanishing from the T20I side just a few months ahead of ICC T20 World Cup 2026, many fans and a few cricket experts have slammed the management for depriving him of opportunities in T20Is. Gill’s failure to make a mark at the top slot has added fuel to this debate. On that note, below are three reasons why Sanju Samson should open for India in T20Is instead of Shubman Gill.

3 reasons why Sanju Samson should open for India instead of Shubman Gill

1. Powerful record as opener

While Samson has batted at different positions in his career so far, he has a marvellous record as an opener. Last year, the right-handed batter hammered three centuries at the top slot. While he owns an overall strike rate of over 147 across 51 T20Is, it rises to 182+ when he took the opening slot. Moreover, all three of his tons have come as an opener, which justifies that his strength rises in the top order.

2. Shubman Gill’s struggles at the opening slot

While Shubman Gill owns an impressive record as an opener in the longer formats, he has struggled to match the quickfire batting style in T20Is. In 2025, the right-handed batsman has played 14 T20Is but has failed to score a half-century in any game.

Compared to Samson, he lacks the aggressive strike rate, which stands over 140+. Moreover, Gill has also failed to score consistently and match Abhishek Sharma’s hard-hitting batting style since his return to T20Is.

3. Samson fulfils dual roles

If Samson replaces Gill at the top position, he will fulfil the dual role of a wicket-keeper and opener. Hence, the team can add more batters in the lower-order, which will strengthen the team’s batting depth.

Moreover, wicket-keeper Jitesh Sharma can also be added to the playing XI as a pure batter, which will allow the team to have back-up wicket-keepers as well as finisher. This will help them to battle any case of injuries to the wicket-keeper during an encounter and be unaffected by the concussion rules.

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