When the Indian team entered the ICC Cricket Academy Arena for their evening net session ahead of the Asia Cup, Samson was the first to start his solo keeping drills with fielding coach T Dilip, even as others were just about lumbering up.
'I can't come in and say, "I only can do the hero role." I need to be a villain. I need to be a joker. I need to play around".'
Such is the race for breaking news that if an Indian player sneezes, a report may immediately go out stating he may have caught the flu bug and could be a doubtful starter!
Shubman Gill's thumb fracture is certainly a "jolt" for India ahead of the series opener against Australia
Former World Cup winner Yuvraj Singh led the accolades, hailing the team's 'serious temperament' and singling out the standout performers who defied the odds.
Indian spinner Ravi Bishnoi and left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh moved up to the sixth and 10th spot respectively in the latest ICC T20 rankings released on Wednesday.
'I think he is going to carry Yuvraj's legacy forward. He is a phenomenal talent.'
Asia Cup: Hardik Pandya goes past Chahal to become second-highest wicket-taker for India in T20Is
'The only thing is I said that make sure that be brave enough. At the most, what will happen, you know. But be brave enough to face it.'
As the continental tournament kicks off on September 9 in Dubai, India will look to lean on this mix of proven winners and new leaders while keeping uncompromising fitness standards at the heart of their preparations.
Abhishek Sharma was brutal and beautiful in equal measure during his scintillating 74 as India made a tricky chase look comfortable, winning an ill-tempered Super 4 contest of the Asia Cup against Pakistan by six wickets in Dubai on Sunday.
Almost all the Indian batters ended their batting sessions with lofted shots. Every few minutes, screams of 'Watch out!' filled the air -- not from the players, but from scribes trying to protect their laptops, cameras, and skulls.
Gill's recall would mark his first T20I appearance since the Sri Lanka series in July 2024, right after the T20 World Cup, where he didn't feature.
Bangladesh are poised to challenge India in a crucial two-match Test series starting September 19 in Chennai. Shubman Gill, has a stern warning for his teammates: don't underestimate the Tigers.
'This is a new India, we won't tolerate it.'
The Indians have not featured in ODIs in recent months but Kuldeep Yadav (650) and Ravindra Jadeja (616) still remained static at number three and number nine in the latest ODI rankings for bowlers.
Unless a player picks up an injury in training, India's team is expected to wear the same look against a Pakistan squad that are without top stars Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, lending it a look of youth and experience.
'...If Shubman Gill had that kind of a fiery side to him, we would have seen it a little earlier. You don't have to show it when you're the captain.
Shaheen Afridi, who once tore through their batting lineup with ruthless efficiency, is showing signs of reclaiming his lethal edge just in time for the Asia Cup game against India on September 14.
While new young stars have emerged in Indian cricket in the last few years, none can match the monumental batting feats or the electric fan frenzy that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli command.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle present Rediff's Most Valuable Player Index of Asia Cup 2025.
After the proceedings began with light warm-up and catching, the action shifted to the nets where all batters had long stints in the nets while the other pace bowlers too put in the hard yards.
India Test skipper and T20 vice-captain Shubman Gill reached the BCCI's Centre of Excellence (CoE) for fitness assessment ahead of travelling to Dubai for the upcoming Asia Cup.
Star India pacer Mohammed Siraj, who devastated the West Indies batting lineup with a four-wicket haul on the opening day of the first Test on Thursday, said that he was overjoyed to bowl on a green-top wicket after a long break.
Shubman Gill said he could not have asked for a better all-round performance from his team after they hammered the West Indies by an innings and 140 runs in the first Test.
India's two time World Cup-winning hero Yuvraj Singh has said golf could have helped him score "at least 3,000 more runs" in international cricket and advised his "wards" Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma to take up the sport for its calming influence.
Mystery spinner Varun Charkravarthy on Wednesday rose to the top spot in ICC's T20 International Bowlers' Rankings for the first time
'Jaiswal has an avg of 36 & a strike rate of 164 in T20Is and he got dropped for Gill who has avg of 30 and a strike rate of 139.' 'There is no place for merit anymore.'
The just-concluded Asia Cup was deeply saturated with off-field drama. But even amidst the bedlam, there were sparks of brilliance, emergence of new stars and tears of failure.
Shubman Gill enjoyed a phenomenal run with the bat in England, piling up 754 runs at an average of 75.40 with four centuries.
A few months after his U-19 World Cup heroics, three senior journalists sought his cellphone number, which he readily provided -- only, he gave three different, but similar, numbers to the three of them!
With WI Tests starting next week, 25 overs in Asia Cup is good build-up for Bumrah: Doeschate
The inclusion of Gill in the squad has raised doubts in the minds of management about who will open the innings for their side, along with left-hand batter Abhishek, in the tournament.
Jaiswal Blazes, Gill Leads: India's Young Guns Dominate Opening Day
KL Rahul and Shubman Gill stood tall, not with fireworks, but with grit and grace, forging a 174-run stand that reminded fans of the game's old soul - and drew admiration from the likes of Sanjay Manjrekar.
'We don't know how long Rohit Sharma will continue.'
Some felt India should not have been so ruthless with the UAE and could have opted to bat first, as they hadn't played a T20 match for a while.
Karun Nair rued that he could not convert the starts he got in the recent Test series against England into big scores.
Responding to India's squad selection for the home series against West Indies, former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan opined that pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah could have been rested for the series in order to groom a young fast bowler.
Test captain Shubman Gill also doesn't fit in the Indian T20 line-up, which has a settled top three in Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and captain Suryakumar Yadav.
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