Former India batter Subramaniam Badrinath has firmly advocated for Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson to remain India's permanent opening combination for at least the next 10 T20Is.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Cric it with Badri, he strongly questioned the team management's tendency to constantly rotate the top order. He emphasized that alternating between Samson and the 15-year-old batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi from one series to the next isn’t only unfair but also damages a player's confidence.
The suggestion is well-timed with India’s current form against Afghanistan, where Sharma exploded with a 32-ball 82 in the first T20I, and Samson silenced critics in the second T20I by smashing a blistering 57 off 22 balls.
“Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson should open in the next 10 T20Is after this series. After that, if Sanju Samson fails, drop him and pick Sooryavanshi. They should follow this process instead of alternating between the two from one series to the next. I feel this has been unfair to Samson,” Badrinath said.
Notably, Samson was Player-of-the-Tournament in India’s triumphant T20 World Cup campaign earlier this year. However, wicketkeeper-batter was benched after a few failures on the tour of UK as Sooryavanshi made his historic debut in Manchester against England.
While Sooryavanshi failed to make a mark in his maiden series, he earned the Player-of-the-Series award in the subsequent three-T20I tour of Zimbabwe, where Samson wasn’t part of the squad.
Badrinath believes Sanju Samson deserves an extended run after his recent half-century against Afghanistan.
“Samson has performed well and is coming off a half-century. I feel he should get an extended run till the end of the year. He has scored two centuries and won India the World Cup. Though he hasn't delivered extraordinary performances like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, he was already there in the line. So why do you have to drop him to bring in another youngster? Give Sanju an extended run and then decide,” Badrinath added.
After securing comfortable seven-wicket victories in both the first and second encounters, India hold an unassailable 2-0 lead in the ongoing T20I series against Afghanistan. The Shreyas Iyer-led side will look to complete a clean sweep by winning the third and final T20I in Delhi on Thursday (September 17).
