With the Asia Cup just around the corner, the Indian side has assembled in Dubai and was seen carrying out their first practice session at the ICC Academy.
As India took to the field, they were handed a worrying sign. With just a few days to the start of the Asia Cup, Indian wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson was seen limping, raising questions over his participation at the marquee event.
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Team India is coming off a long break of a month. The side last featured in the Test series against England last time, while last played a T20I way back in February.
Sanju Samson to miss games at the Asia Cup?
As per a report from Revsportz, Sanju Samson was seen in pain and limping during India's practice session at the ICC Academy. The keeper-batter was visibly unfit, which has now raised questions over his participation at the Asia Cup.
Sanju Samson was limping in pain and did not look 100% fit. (Revsportz ). pic.twitter.com/hxhvCDtlVW
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 6, 2025
However, the recent visuals from the ground see him practising sixes in Dubai.
Sanju Samson smoking sixes in tonight's practice in Dubai @IamSanjuSamson pic.twitter.com/YfSUajaL8T
— Sushant Mehta (@SushantNMehta) September 6, 2025
The Asia Cup is set to begin on September 9th, while India will open their campaign against the UAE on the second day of the tournament, September 10th.
Samson has been India's opener in the T20I format when the side last featured in the shortest format. While he was having a good run at the top, his last T20I series against England in February did not go as planned. The batter ended with just 35 runs in four innings.
He also did not enjoy a very good IPL season. As the skipper of the Rajasthan Royals, Samson featured in just nine out of the 14 games and battled multiple injuries throughout the league.
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With Shubman Gill back at the top and Abhishek Sharma performing, Samson's position in the side was already being doubted. The injury now might well be another cause of concern for the superstar from Kerala.
Jitesh Sharma to feature in India's opener at the Asia Cup?
In the absence of Sanju, RCB star Jitesh Sharma will likely feature for India as the wicket-keeping option. Jitesh had a wonderful IPL season with the Bengaluru franchise, where they went on to win the title for the first time in the league's history.
The wicket-keeper-batter from Vidarbha was in red-hot form and even led the side to some magnificent victories with his terrific hitting and match-winning abilities down the order.
Reports also suggested that the Indian management is well in favour of including the RCB star ahead of the veteran Sanju Samson.
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He has made a comeback to the India side after nearly a year and would be keen on grabbing any kind of opportunities presented to prove his worth and retain his spot in the side.