Sanju Samson won the battle for India’s opening slot alongside Abhishek Sharma as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was left out of the XI for the first T20I against Afghanistan in Delhi on Sunday. India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Jasprit Bumrah also returned to the T20I side and will play under Iyer’s captaincy for the first time.
Abhishek Sharma and Sooryavanshi opened for India in the team’s last T20I series against Zimbabwe, with Samson rested for the assignment. All three batters also featured in India’s previous series against England.
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“We’re going to bowl first, which is what generally happens in T20 cricket. When you have played in Delhi, you know what the pitch has got to offer and we’ve played quite a bit of matches over here. So based on that and looking at the conditions, that’s really why,” Iyer said after the toss.
Abhishek has been India’s standout T20I batter over the past two years. Among players with at least 500 T20I runs, he has the highest strike rate, scoring at 187.24 in 55 innings. He has also hit two centuries and 11 fifties. His place at the top of the order was never really in doubt, but Samson and Sooryavanshi had been competing for the other opening spot.
Sooryavanshi has made a strong start to his international career, striking at 189.21 in six T20I innings. However, the 15-year-old struggled against England’s short-pitched bowling in his debut series in July, scoring 14, 13 and 15. Samson, meanwhile, was a prominent presence around the Arun Jaitley Stadium before the match, with banners featuring the wicketkeeper-batter displayed around the ground.
It appears India have stuck with the combination they settled on in England, where Sooryavanshi was dropped for the series finale. Samson was not picked for the tour of Zimbabwe but returned to the XI in Delhi. Iyer, on the eve of the game, conceded that picking the top order was a tough act.
An injury scare to Ishan Kishan might also have influenced the decision. The wicketkeeper-batter suffered a back sprain during Friday evening’s practice session, while Iyer acknowledged that the Duleep Trophy-winning captain was fatigued after playing the final of the red-ball competition in Chennai last week.
With Ishan not keeping and Samson donning the gloves, the call might have been made easier for Iyer and coach Gautam Gambhir.
Samson was a key part of India’s T20 World Cup-winning campaign in March, scoring 97 not out, 89 and 89 in his three innings. He then moved to Chennai Super Kings for the IPL and finished with 477 runs, including two centuries.
Iyer said India’s positive approach from the Zimbabwe series would be important as they begin the Afghanistan series.
“It’s been a rollercoaster ride, but if you see the previous series which we played against Zimbabwe, there were a lot of positives and the boys were optimistic in their approach. So that’s the attitude we’ve got to carry in this series as well,” he said.
On Bumrah, Iyer added: “I think it’s a luxury to have him in the squad because he’s immensely experienced and he carries a lot of great attitude when it comes to winning matches. So we know he’s a match-winner and we know what he’s got to offer.”
India Playing XI: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube,
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