Sanju Samson Responds After Losing His Opening Spot to Shubman Gill

ByAnupam Pandey,SportsCafe Editor

Yesterday at 7:02 PM

Sanju Samson has finally reacted to losing his opening spot in the Indian team. A player who bagged multiple centuries while opening now comes in the middle order. In his place, Shubman Gill is the new opener of the Indian line-up.

Sanju Samson Responds After Losing His Opening Spot to Shubman Gill.

Before the Asia Cup 2025, the Indian team had two aggressive batsmen opening for the team. And these were Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson. In the Asia Cup, Shubman Gill marked his return to the T20I team, being the vice captain of the side. With Gill being a top-order batsman,

So, the position of Sanju Samson was given to Shubman Gill, and he started to open along with Abhishek Sharma. While Samson didn't speak directly about his batting spot, he had given some indirect responses to the same. But recently, he talked about losing his opening spot to the Indian team during the India tour of Australia.

1. Samson on Losing Opening Position

Before the match between India and Australia started, Sanju Samson participated in an interview. He talked about the conditions of the game and weather by saying, “It definitely feels good to come out of the heat of Kerala and enjoy some cold weather here in Canberra. I am loving it. I am excited and looking forward to the game today.”

Samson continued by saying, “Definitely the skill sets. Also, the conditions. The weather as well. A lot of sweaters are already among the crowd and the players.” With the T20 World Cup 2026 approaching, India will be heading the tournament as the defending champions. , the series against Australia will play a major role for the team.

Emphasising this, the Indian batsman said, “Yesterday, we just had a meeting and discussed the importance of the upcoming three T20I series before the World Cup. It is about focusing on one game at a time and putting ourselves under pressure against Australia. In these conditions, we will be tested. That is what is required to test ourselves physically and mentally. We are looking forward to it.”

Eventually, he was also asked about losing the opening spot in the team. Samson answered the same by saying, “To be honest, I have played a lot of different roles for a lot of different teams. I have been part of this team for a long time now and have done different roles. I have opened the batting. I have finished matches. Now, I am batting in the middle order. Only the openers are fixed in this team. The rest of the batters have to be ready at any time and in any situation. We are well prepared for that.”

2. Samson’s Famous Mohanlal Dialogue

During the Asia Cup, Sanju Samson had a stir in his batting order to a great extent. In the match between India and Bangladesh, Samson was not sent to bat by the Indian team. For this, he also received some questions after the game. Noting the fact that all of his T20I tons came at the opening spot, the question came down to his batting order.

, Sanju Samson took the context of the famous Kerala actor Mohanlal. He had been working in the industry for 25-30 years and recently received a national award. Comparing him, he said, “I have also been playing for India for the last 10 years.” He accepted the fact that he can't be the hero of the team across all the games, as sometimes he should have to be a villain or even a joker.

3. Sanju Samson's T20I Career

Sanju Samson has held a number of records for the Indian team in his T20I career. Despite his batting order changing with every game, Samson has proved his worth to the selectors as an opener. Holding three tons to his name, it should be noted that all of them came when Samson was opening for the Indian team.

Sanju Samson in T20Is:

Innings: 42
Not Out: 4
Runs: 993
Average: 26.13
Strike Rate: 147.98
100s: 3
50s: 3

He has been among the few batsmen across the world who have scored consecutive tons in the T20I format of the game. Samson also holds the record for having the highest partnership for the second wicket with Tilak Varma, as their partnership stood at 201 runs in a game against South Africa.