'Probably Samson Will Sit Out'

'Though I would like to see him in the playing XI, Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma will open the batting for the team.'

Sanju Samson's last five T20I innings include two tons and three ducks

IMAGE: Sanju Samson's last five T20I innings include two tons and three ducks. Photograph: Rogan Ward/Reuters

Former India captain Ajinkya Rahane reckons that Sanju Samson's chances to make the playing XI at the Asia Cup are very slim given Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill's presence in the squad.

Gill, who has been named vice-captain for the Asia Cup, is likely to be the preferred choice for opener and the team will have to choose between Abhishek and Samson to partner him at the top of the order.

'I would like to see Sanju Samson in the team because he done really well. Very confident guy. He is a very good team man. I feel that is a very important thing. He is a great team man and that is a very good problem to have for the team management,' Rahane said on his YouTube channel.

'My opinion is, probably Samson will sit out. Though I would like to see him in the playing XI, Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma will open the batting for the team,' he added.

Last year, Samson became the first Indian batter to score back-back centuries in T20 Internationals. He first hit his maiden ton against Bangladesh in October 2024 (111 off 47) before following it up with another against South Africa (107 off 50 balls) in November last year.

However, his last five T20I innings includes three ducks aside from the twin tons.

Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah could pose threat to the opposition at the Asia Cup

IMAGE: Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah could pose a threat to the opposition at the Asia Cup. Photograph: BCCI/X

Rahane expressed confidence in the bowling unit, saying he is looking forward to seeing Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh working in tandem.

'I'm excited to see Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh bowling together in this Asia Cup. We all know how dangerous Bumrah can be.

'Arshdeep Singh is a very confident guy. He swings the ball both ways. He can bowl the yorker straight and he can bowl wide yorkers as well. But one important thing about Arshdeep is he can double bluff the batter and to do that you need to be really confident,' Rahane added.

Rahane predicted his playing XI for the Asia Cup, where he believes that Team India will hand the glovework to Jitesh Sharma and said if India want a batter who can bowl, then Shivam Dube will get a chance.

Rahane's Playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Hardik Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (wicket-keeper), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy/Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh