Sanju Samson, India wicket-keeper-batter going really hard for a place in the Indian T20I side, possibly even ahead of Ishan Kishan, after having seen both play in the Duleep Trophy.
Samson smashed 196 runs in four matches for India D, which also includes a hundred. Kishan scored 134 runs in the same number of games for India C. With this scorecard trend in recent games, he seems an obvious choice for the T20I series against Bangladesh, which is going to start from October 6.
Kishan, who has been sitting without a fitness issue for almost a year, also made his mark in the domestic circuit and was looked upon as being recalled in the series, but now it seems that Samson’s show may win the day.
Interestingly, Kishan has been named in the Irani Cup squad scheduled for October 1-5; of course, Samson has not been selected for this event, which wraps up just before the T20I series begins in Gwalior.
As it stands, Samson is likely to play and will likely start the T20I series, perhaps even opening the innings. Having struggled up the order against Sri Lanka last time out, his overall form could see him play a meaningful role against Bangladesh.
The Indian team is likely to give rest to key players such as Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, and Rishabh Pant will also miss the tour on account of essential Test duties. This opens up a way for Tamil Nadu batter Sai Sudharshan, who had just donned the Indian blue during the tour of Zimbabwe.
Captain of the T20I side will be Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya would support him as the deputy. List of the schedule for the series: T20I-1 would take place on 6th October. The second T20I at New Delhi would occur on 9th October, and the third and final T20I at Hyderabad on 12th October.