Why Jitesh May Edge Out Samson In India's T20 Playing XI

'Jitesh Sharma has shown he is quite a capable player. He can bat lower down the order and look to hit the big shots even with a slightly older ball.'

Jitesh Sharma is vying with Sanju Samson for a place in India's T20I team

IMAGE: Jitesh Sharma is vying with Sanju Samson for a place in India's T20I team. Photograph: Sanju Samson/Instagram

Former India cricketer and batting coach Sanjay Bangar believes Sanju Samson's versatility may still not be enough to secure him a place in India’s playing XI for the T20Is against South Africa.

Speaking on JioStar, Bangar said Samson has delivered whenever India have handed him the opportunity at the top. His fluent hundreds against Bangladesh and South Africa are evidence of what he can do when allowed to open. But that, Bangar insists, is precisely the problem.

With Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya cementing the middle order, there’s barely any room for Samson between Nos. 4 and 6. And India, he said, cannot afford to shoehorn a player into an unfamiliar slot -- especially in a World Cup cycle.

What the team does need, though, is a true finisher, someone who can walk in at No. 7 and muscle the old ball with minimal fuss. For Bangar, the answer is straightforward: Jitesh Sharma.

Bangar felt Samson may find it difficult to get a slot in the Indian T20 side.

'...his best spot in T20 cricket is still at the top. With players like Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, or Hardik Pandya available, there may not be a place for him at number four, five, or six.

'Jitesh Sharma has shown he is quite a capable player. He can bat lower down the order and look to hit the big shots even with a slightly older ball.'

'Samson opened the innings and performed really well when Shubman Gill was absent… But his best spot in T20 cricket is still at the top. If you need someone who can hit sixes with the older ball, you have Jitesh Sharma. He has done it in the past and does it regularly in the IPL,' Bangar added.

Bangar added that India have already experimented with Samson in the middle order, but without the consistency required for a finisher's role.

'I think Jitesh will now get the number seven spot… He can bat lower down the order and look to hit the big shots even with a slightly older ball,' he noted.

Samson has featured in 51 T20Is, scoring 995 runs at an average of 25.51, including three fifties and three hundreds. But with India chasing clarity ahead of the home T20 World Cup, the finisher’s slot may no longer be up for debate.