Former Indian wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa has suggested making changes to the Indian batting order ahead of the third T20 match in Dharamsala. He believes that Sanju Samson should be brought back and sent to the no. 3 ahead of Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Verma.
India may have won the matches, but except Tilak Verma, Abhishek Sharma and Hardik Pandya, no Indian batsman has been able to perform well with the bat. Ever since captain Suryakumar Yadav took over the captaincy of India, his batting has lost its shine.
SKY has scored 201 runs in its 17 innings at an average of around 14, and on the other hand, team vice-captain Shubman Gill has scored runs at an average of around 20 after 14 innings. Both these batsmen have not yet scored a half-century in 2025.
Will Sanju Samson be brought back into India’s XI for Dharamsala T20I?
After another batting collapse in the second match, former Indian batsman Robin Uthappa has urged for changes in the Indian playing XI. He supported Samson’s inclusion in the team.
Speaking on Star Sports show, “Follow the Blues”, he said that Shubman Gill should continue to open with Abhishek Sharma but Sanju Samson should come off the bench and be included in the XI in place of Jitesh Sharma.
He said, “I would like to see Shubman and Abhishek Sharma opening the batting. The whole left field here, Sanju Samson at No. 3, Suryakumar Yadav at No. 4 and Tilak Verma at No. 5, and then so on.”
The former opener further said that the host team will still have depth in batting and enough options with the ball.
“You still have Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey and Axar Patel. So your eight batsmen are settled and you have five bowlers. I would love to see that XI. I think that would be the ideal XI for India,” Uthappa said.
Regarding Suryakumar Yadav, the former Indian wicketkeeper said, “He needs a certain place.”
Speaking on the same show, Robin Uthappa also said what will help Suryakumar Yadav get his A game back. He said that the captain should decide the batting position in the eleven; It is noteworthy that under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, SKY had a definite position in the middle order.
He argued, “I definitely believe that, as far as Suryakumar Yadav is concerned, he needs a certain position. Be it No. 3 or No. 4, we know he has scored a lot of runs at No. 4 in the IPL. Stick with him at No. 4.”
It is also worth noting that Suryakumar scored a lot of runs for Mumbai Indians during the latest edition of the IPL, when he was ranked at no. 4 for most of the season, and he crossed the 25-run mark in more than 15 innings, whereas in international cricket, he has crossed the figure only twice.
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The cricket analyst also believes that Shubman Gill needs to take his time and play the game as he has done over the years. They don’t need to succumb to ultra-aggressive standards, especially with Abhishek Sharma at the opposite end.
“With Shubhman Gill, I really feel, for a guy like him, he needs to bat his own way. He has a way of scoring runs. He has scored a lot of runs following his way of scoring runs.
“He may try to come in in the first few overs, and once he comes in, his pace increases. After that, it is almost impossible to get him out,” Uthappa said.
So far in the South Africa series, Suryakumar Yadav has scored 17 runs in two matches at an average of 8.50, while Shubman Gill has scored 4 runs at an average of 2. With the ICC T20 World Cup coming in 2 months, this is the right time for the Indian leaders to score runs.
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