“Cannot spoil the balance to accommodate Sanju Samson” - Former India captain’s scathing remark ahead of Asia Cup 2025

Former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth made a huge remark regarding the team's balance ahead of the Asia Cup 2025. The multination tournament is set to begin on Tuesday, September 9, and will be played in Dubai.

Ahead of the same, Srikkanth weighed in on whether Sanju Samson could slot in at number three with Shubman Gill likely to open the batting. He highlighted that Samson had a poor recent home T20I series against England and did not have a great IPL 2025 either.

On the other hand, he reckoned that Tilak Varma did well in the England T20Is and the IPL. Therefore, Srikkanth stated that India must play Tilak at number three and should not spoil the team's balance to accommodate Samson.

"You cannot spoil the balance of the team to accommodate Sanju Samson, who failed against England. His IPL this year was not great. While I like him personally, he did not do well in those five games, whereas Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma capitalized that time. Tilak won you games at number three. Look at it from the T20 World Cup. To accommodate a player you should not spoil the balance of the team. You will give a false impression as far as the T20 World Cup is concerned," he said on his YouTube channel 'Cheeky Cheeka'. (16:38)

Notably, Samson made just 51 runs from five matches in the England T20Is. In the IPL this year, he scored 285 runs from nine games with one half-century. Tilak scored 133 runs from five innings against England at an average of 44.33. He made 343 runs from 13 innings in IPL 2025.

India will begin their campaign against the UAE on Wednesday, September 10, in Dubai. While several former cricketers reckoned that Samson could play at number three, Srikkanth opined that the wicketkeeper-batter would miss out. He added that he does not see Samson playing as a finisher at this point either.

"It has to be Abishek and Shubman opening for sure. If you play Sanju at three, where will you play Tilak Verma? Even though some other senior cricketers have said Sanju Samson can bat at three, in my opinion, he will miss out. I don't agree on the point that he can play as a finisher," he stated. (11:30)

"So Tilak at three, Suryakumar Yadav at number four, Hardik Pandya at number five for sure, Axar Patel at number six. Now if Jitesh Sharma comes at seven, they are going to be confused. If Sanju or Shivam Dube play you will be one bowler short. If you want Jitesh at seven the eight, nine, ten, and eleven will be four bowlers but they may not play like that. So then you play Dube at five," he added.

After the UAE clash, India will face arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday, September 14, followed by their final group stage match against Oman on Friday, September 19.

---

India might play Shivam Dube as a hard-hitter who can bowl two overs, feels Srikkanth

Talking about Shivam Dube in the same video, Krishnamachari Srikkanth reckoned that India would play the left-hander as a hard-hitter. Dube has gained a reputation for taking the attack to the spinners in the middle.

However, he added that Dube would have to bowl a couple of overs to maintain the balance. While including Dube could mean that India play eight batting options, Srikkanth reflected that he would have played seven batters and four bowlers with Hardik Pandya as the all-rounder.

"Shivam Dube may be given a chance saying he can hit the big shots against spinners. They may give him two overs. That's why I said what kind of XI are they going to pick? I would have gone with seven batters, four bowlers plus Hardik Pandya," he said. (14:55)

Going into the tournament, India begin as favorites and the top contenders to win the trophy. Although the previous edition in 2023 was played in the ODI format, the Men In Blue are the defending champions.