Former India batter Subramaniam Badrinath expressed strong disappointment on live television, voicing his concern over Sanju Samson’s continued absence from India’s T20I playing XI. The ex-CSK batter questioned the Gautam Gambhir-led team management for repeatedly backing Shubman Gill as an opener in T20Is, despite Samson’s impressive run of form over the past year.
Badrinath’s comments came shortly after Gill was dismissed for a duck in the second T20I of the five-match series against South Africa in Mullanpur on Thursday, December 12. This was Gill’s third single-digit score in his last six T20I innings. Earlier in the first match in Cuttack, Gill had fallen for four off just two balls. The youngster’s inconsistency has sparked fresh debate about India’s decision to persist with him at the top. Gill was reinstated into the squad after a year-long break and was even appointed vice-captain. To accommodate him as opener, the management broke up the successful pairing of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson. Samson was pushed into the middle order temporarily and later dropped from the XI entirely during the Australia tour in October.
Badrinath highlighted this situation and empathised with Samson, who has been one of India’s best T20 performers over the past year.
“Sanju Samson has scored three hundreds. We are talking about T20 cricket, and he has three hundreds. What more do you want as a player? It is a little painful to see a player who has performed so well warming the bench,” Badrinath said on Star Sports Tamil.
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He also questioned Gill’s elevation in leadership despite his performance.
“He is the vice-captain of the team. I think only a player who is a certainty in the XI can be captain or vice-captain. He has been made vice-captain with these numbers. I can understand if there are no back-ups, but India have no dearth of talent in T20s,” he added.
Former India captain and ex-chairman of selectors Kris Srikkanth echoed Badrinath’s sentiments. He openly criticised the team management for what he felt was a confused selection process and pointed out the significant gap in strike rates between Samson and Gill.
“His (Samson’s) strike rate is 183 ; that’s on another level. What are they even saying in press conferences? Each one is saying different things. They say it’s a battle between Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma. There is no clarity in what they are saying. They say Gill is a good player, and they are giving him opportunities,” Srikkanth said.
He further questioned India’s decision-making during the chase of 214 in Mullanpur, particularly the move to send Axar Patel at No. 3. Axar struggled to adapt to the role, scoring 21 off 21 balls, failing to keep up the required rate after Gill’s early dismissal. India were eventually bowled out for 162 in 19.1 overs, allowing South Africa to level the series 1–1 despite a fifty from Tilak Varma.
“See, they themselves are confused. They don’t know why Axar Patel came in at No. 3. We are talking about the Indian team. Where is the fairness? Even when you give him chances, you are shuffling him around,” Srikkanth added.
Samson has remained benched despite scoring 417 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 182 since the end of the 2024 T20 World Cup, including three centuries. In the same period, Gill has scored 506 runs in 21 innings at a strike rate of 136.
Coach Defends Gill
The Indian team’s batting coach Ryan ten Doeschate defended Gill, urging patience and insisting the youngster was showing positive improvements in mindset during the Australia tour.
“Shubman I saw some good signs of a change in mentality towards the back end of that Australian tour. I wouldn’t read too much into these two dismissals in this series. In the first game, we asked the guys to go out there and attack the powerplay, and it wasn’t a great wicket at Cuttack, so I’ll let him off for that one. Today, I thought he got a good ball that can happen when you’re short on form,” Doeschate said.
Gill is expected to retain his opening spot for the third T20I in Dharamsala on Sunday. India still have eight T20Is left – three more against South Africa and five against New Zealand before the T20 World Cup begins on February 7.
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