Sanju Samson at No 5: Why are Gambhir and co trusting him despite middle order struggle

Sanju Samson for India (Source:@ImMD45/X.com)

Sanju Samson's selection in the Indian side has always been a matter of big debate. The selectors and the Indian team management have often been criticised for not giving him a regular chance to showcase his talent.

However, since Gautam Gambhir has taken over, Sanju Samson has had regular chances in T20Is. He was given an opportunity to open as well, and he grabbed it with both hands, scoring three hundreds. However, with the return of Shubman Gill, Samson had to leave that spot, and now in the Asia Cup 2025, the wicketkeeper batter is batting at number five.

The cricketer did not get an opportunity to bat in the initial two matches. In the third match against Oman, he was promoted to number 3 and scored a fifty, but was then asked to bat at five against Pakistan. Samson struggled and scored 13 off 17 balls and looked very scratchy, clearly showing that he is not comfortable batting in the middle order.

India's assistant coach, Ryan ten Doeschate, though, made it clear that they are looking for a number five and are sure that Samson is a best player for that job. The Indian assistant coach stated that Samson would figure out how to play at that position in future. However, has Sanju Samson done anything good at number 5 before in T20 cricket? Let's find out.

Sanju Samson's Performance At No. 5

If we look at Sanju Samson's numbers at five in both T20Is and IPL, it is clear that the batter has struggled at that position. At the international level, his strike-rate drops down to 117.2 at five compared to his overall strike-rate of 148.32. In IPL, he has played just three matches at number five despite being part of the league since 2013, which shows that number five has never been his preferred position.

So, India clearly seems to be getting it wrong by forcing Samson to bat at five if we look at his overall numbers at that position in the format. However, Sanju Samson has a couple of factors that go his way and which indicate that he can be effective at number five too.

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Sanju Samson's Prowess Against Spin

Sanju Samson has a great record against spin in the shortest format. He has shown the natural ability to hit sixes against the best of the spinners at the international level and in IPL, and it is possible that his prowess is tempting Indian team management to try him out at five. 

As a number five batter, one might have to face a lot of spin bowling, and Samson, given his impressive average and strike-rate against tweakers, might help India utilise that phase effectively if he gets it right.

Sanju Samson's Record Against Spinners

Apart from big hitting, Samson in the past has also shown the ability to rotate strike quite effectively against spinners and India might need that batsmanship in Asia Cup and tournaments ahead.

Art Of Batting In Middle Overs Of A T20 Match

Also, being a number 5 batter means that the cricketer should know how to bat in the middle phase of a T20 innings. Now, if we look at Samson's figures from overs number five to fifteen, they are pretty impressive and reflect towards Samson's ability to hit boundaries and not get stuck like he did in the last match against Pakistan.

It is also important to understand that many times these runs in the middle overs have come after Samson has got set coming up the order. Thus, Samson could find it difficult to get his mojo right away at number five, and the dot percentage, which is below 30 at the moment, might go up.

Sanju Samson In Middle Overs (7-15)

However, as seen in the table, Samson has a very good record in the middle phase of a T20 or T20I innings, and has the ability to deal in singles, doubles, as well as in boundaries. Therefore, it seems that the Indian team management is willing to trust Samson's multi-dimensional nature and his past exploits against spinners and in the middle phase of the shortest format.

India also have an option of Jitesh Sharma who can go big in the lower middle order, but the management currently looks keen to reward Sanju Samson for his good work as opener and IPL player. Sanju Samson has a poor record at number five, but he has not played a lot of matches at that position, either. As seen above, he has a good record against spin and in the middle overs of a T20I match, thus if given time to settle, he might flourish at number five just like he did as an opener.

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