"Give him a chance" - Aakash Chopra urges Indian team management to give Sanju Samson an opportunity to bat against Oman

Ritabrata_Banerjee

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"Give him a chance" - Aakash Chopra urges Indian team management to give Sanju Samson an opportunity to bat against Oman image

Sanju Samson's place in the Indian starting lineup was a subject of widespread discussion before the start of the Asia Cup 2025.

Many experts had predicted that due to Shubman Gill's presence in the team and his appointment as vice-captain, Samson might not make it to the playing XI as India would need a middle-order batter and Gill opening the innings alongside Abhishek Sharma.

Jitesh Sharma was tipped to be picked in the lineup as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru star is a specialist middle-order batter.

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However, in the first two matches of the Asia Cup 2025, Samson has started for India as their first-choice wicket-keeper and has done a fairly good job behind the stumps with the gloves.

While the Kerala-born player has kept the wickets, he has not had an opportunity to bat yet. Indian bowlers have done a spectacular job of restricting their opponents to low totals.

Against UAE, India lost just one wicket as captain Suryakumar Yadav came on in the No.3 position and finished off the game. However, against Pakistan, they lost three wickets but Samson was still not set out to bat.

Former India opener Aakash Chopra has urged the team management to send Samson to bat up in the order so that he can prove his worth and get an opportunity to showcase his skills.

READ: IND vs OMA Asia Cup 2025: Live updates, scorecard, result & highlights

Aakash Chopra urges Indian team management to allow Sanju Samson to bat against Oman

On his YouTube channel, Chopra said: "Sanju Samson is wondering whether he is being played only for keeping as the five above him have batted and the five below him have bowled. If Sanju Samson doesn't get a chance in this match, he might not get to bat in the entire Asia Cup. Give him a chance and get the guy in form.

"Now that you have made his job difficult, you have to make it easy in a way. You have made it difficult because you are not playing him in the top three. He has scored most of his runs there. If you are not playing him there and are playing him from Nos. 5 to 7, give him more chances.

He added: "He should be given a lot of opportunities. If it's in your mind to give an opener 10 chances, if you are going to play him from Nos. 5 to 7, give him 20 chances. It won't work out with less than that. His batting doesn't come half the time."

MORE: Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 format, rules and schedule

What next for the Indian cricket team?

After facing Oman in Abu Dhabi on Friday, India will next face rivals Pakistan in their opening Super Four game on Sunday, September 21.

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Ritabrata_Banerjee

Ritabrata is a content producer for The Sporting News' India edition