India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said that while wicketkeeper Sanju Samson might not bat at No. 5 or No. 6, he is capable of batting at any position in India’s upcoming Asia Cup group match against Pakistan.
Samson had been slated to bat at No. 5 in India’s Asia Cup opener against the UAE, with Shubman Gill opening the innings alongside Abhishek Sharma. However, with the target being just 58, the Men in Blue didn’t require Samson to bat, and only Sharma, Gill, and Suryakumar Yadav got a chance at the crease.
Kotak hinted that the Indian team management is unlikely to change Samson’s batting slot for the marquee Asia Cup clash against Pakistan on Sunday. Offering his take on the issue during a media briefing here on Friday, he said, “Sanju Samson hasn’t batted a lot at No. 5 or 6 but that doesn’t mean he can’t bat at that position. Everyone knows their roles. Last match he didn’t bat at No. 3 but it doesn’t mean the same thing will happen in the next game.”
Kotak said that the captain, Suryakumar Yadav, and head coach Gautam Gambhir believe that playing Samson at No. 5 or No. 6 instead of Jitesh is the right decision, and the wicketkeeper himself is comfortable batting anywhere the team requires him to.
While Samson has scored 512 runs at an exceptional strike rate of 182.2, including three hundreds as an opener for India in T20Is, his contributions in the middle order have been negligible and came at a poor strike rate. It also shows that he hasn’t been very successful against slow bowlers in the middle overs, even though he hasn’t faced much spin in international matches.
The problem with Samson batting in the middle order is that he may struggle to dominate the slower bowlers on Dubai’s slightly slower pitch compared to the tracks in India or South Africa.
India will face Pakistan on Sunday in their first match since tensions escalated in May, when India carried out Operation Sindoor on terror infrastructure in Pakistan following the killing of 26 tourists in a terror attack in Pahalgam.
“Once BCCI said they are aligned with government’s decision, our focus was always on the match. It’s India versus Pakistan, and it will be an interesting game,” Kotak told mediapersons. “India versus Pakistan is always a competitive game,” he added.
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