SKY & Sanju Samson for India - (Source: AFP)
On Sunday, November 2, India locked horns against Australia for the third T20I at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. It is a crucial match for the Men in Blue as they already trail 0-1 in the series, and a defeat means they cannot win the series.
For the ongoing match, the Men in Blue made three changes to the playing XI, but the most noticeable one was Sanju Samson. Gambhir and co decided to go ahead with Jitesh Sharma as their first-choice keeper.
Notably, Samson has been a key part of India's camp since the 2024 T20 World Cup, and his exclusion has raised several eyebrows. Meanwhile, this article will shed light on key reasons why the management decided to look at Jitesh ahead of Samson.
1. Out of position
The issue at the moment is that the management is adamant about having Shubman Gill open with Abhishek Sharma, which has actually left Samson out of position.
Gill made his return to the team since the Asia Cup 2025, and since then, Sanju has played more as a floater, without any fixed batting position. Now with Samson being played as a floater, it disturbed the balance of the team, as the rest of the players too were also out of their position.
As seen in the 2nd T20I, Samson came to bat at No.3, which pushed Suryakumar Yadav to No. 4 and Tilak Varma to No. 5.
It is worth noting that since Gill's return to the T20I team, Samson has played 5 matches and batted at No.5, No.3, and once didn't even get the chance to bat as Axar Patel was once promoted ahead of him.
Thus, the attitude to fit in with Samson in the team despite disturbing his and others' batting order wasn't working out well for Team India. Let's look at Sanju Samson's stats as opener in T20Is and as non-opener.
| Criteria | Opener | Non-Opener |
| Innings | 17 | 26 |
| Runs | 522 | 483 |
| Average | 38.7 | 18.76 |
| Strike-Rate | 178.8 | 111.2 |
| 100/50 | 3/1 | 0/2 |
The stats clearly infer that Samson clearly struggles in the middle-order and his preferred position is opening, which he is being deprived because of Shubman Gill's presence.
2. Balance in the middle-order
Rather than Sanju Samson's exclusion, the important point here is Jitesh Sharma's inclusion. For a long time, India was missing that lower-middle order batter. Since Hardik Pandya is not part of this team, India needs a power-hitter in the lower-middle-order, and Jitesh is the perfect solution for it.
With the RCB star's inclusion, it solves several puzzles as India gets a keeper in the middle-order and the rest of the batter too wouldn't have to compromise on their batting orders. If we again look bat the 2nd T20I, Harshit Rana was brought up the order to bat at No. 7, which left everyone surprised.
3. A Part of experimentation
Sanju is not the only player who has been left out of the third T20I as Harshit Rana and Kuldeep Yadav too made way for Arshdeep Singh and Washington Sundar respectively. Gautam Gambhir is known for experimentation and this game is no different.
Thus, Samson's exclusion is something not too much to be worried about as there are high chances that India again revert to him for the 4th T20I irrespective of the result in the ongoing match.
