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India have dropped Sanju Samson from the playing 11 for Sunday’s T20 World Cup clash against Pakistan. His exit could be credited to the return of first-choice opener Abhishek Nayar, as captain Suryakumar
Yadav didn’t mention any injury or fitness issues with the Kerala star either.
It was an expected change. Samson got into the playing 11 for the last match against Namibia because Abhishek was down with a stomach bug. The latter was admitted to a hospital and fought some serious issues, including weight loss, over the past few days, but he recovered well, allowing him to return to the 11.
Samson was the first-choice opener alongside Abhishek until the 2025 Asia Cup. There, he was replaced by Shubman Gill, who was eventually dropped. Asked to open again in the five-T20I series against New Zealand, Samson failed to make his chances count and let the door open for Ishan Kishan, whose excellent performances allowed him to edge over for the opener’s spot.
“We were looking to bat first,” Suryakumar said at the toss after being asked to bat by Pakistan captain Salman Agha. “We’ve seen the results here, and we’ve batted in the last two games and won both the games defending, so we don’t want to change anything… I think it’s easy to say that it’s just another game, but it is an occasion. These games are always very high stakes, but at the same time, you’ve got to know what you want to do. That’s more important. Stay in the present, back your skills, put your A game forward and be yourself… This sport teaches you a lot of things. On a given day, if you’re going well, then anyone can have a good day. Two changes. Abhishek Sharma comes in and Kuldeep Yadav comes in for Arshdeep Singh,” he added.
India (Playing 11): Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (WK), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy and Jasprit Bumrah
