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Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson— three openers from two slots. The same old question returns as India is set to face Afghanistan for a three-match T20I series. Since the debut of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson's position in the playing eleven has become insecure, despite helping the team win the 2026 T20 World Cup title.
The first T20I between India and Afghanistan is scheduled to start on September 13. Ahead of the match in Delhi, fans and cricket experts are curious to know who will be the openers for the match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Vivek Razdan supports Sanju Samson
Ahead of the first T20I, former India pacer Vivek Razdan said that the management, led by Gambhir and Iyer, should back Samson and show some support to Sanju Samson because of his stature and contributions in Indian cricket.
Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan, two other batters of the T20I squad, are untouchable considering their form and credibility. The debate is over Sanju Samson because of the arrival of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Vivek Razdan asks Team India to drop Vaibhav Sooryavanshi from the playing eleven
The former cricketer claimed that the hype around Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is mostly because of the social media platforms. After his blistering IPL 2026 season, fans are still crazy for the 15-year-old batter. Pointing out Samson's importance in the team, Vivek Razdan suggested that the Indian team management have some patience in the case of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
“The problem is that Sooryavanshi has become such a huge name on social media. The conversation is always about him due to his performances in the IPL. But I think we need to be patient. We are talking about Samson."
"You cannot touch Ishan Kishan and Abhishek. So the choice is between Samson and Suryavanshi. Samson is one player who helped you win the T20 World Cup just a few months back,” said Razdan to Hindustan Times Digital.
Vivek Razdan explains why Sanju Samson deserves to play over Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
Razdan further explained that Sanju Samson is the player who scored around 300 runs with a strike rate of around 200 in the 2026 T20 World Cup and was dropped from the playing eleven only because of three bad innings.
Sooryavanshi also had multiple underwhelming innings after making his T20I debut in England. Additionally, if Vaibhav gets to play over Samson, then there will be multiple left-handed batters in the batting order. Right-hander Sanju Samson could bring the balance into the team.
"He was the Player of the Tournament; he scored 300 runs at a strike rate of almost 200. It is a difficult conundrum. He was dropped after he failed to set the stage on fire in the UK tour. Sooryavanshi too had a below-par outing."
"So, better sense would dictate that Samson is called into the lineup. There are several left-handers in the lineup; only Shreyas is a right-hander. Samson is no small name, but I think we need to stick with him for the first T20I against Afghanistan,” he added.
