Sanju Samson slotted at No. 3 in India’s Playing XI for 3rd T20I vs South Africa

Former Indian wicket-keeper Robin Uthappa has suggested making a change in the Indian batting order ahead of the third T20I in Dharamsala. He has opined that Sanju Samson should be brought back and slotted in at no. 3 ahead of Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma.

India might have won matches, but keeping aside the likes of Tilak Varma, Abhishek Sharma, and Hardik Pandya, no other Indian batter has been performing with the bat. Suryakumar Yadav, the skipper, has lost his spark with the bat ever since he took guard as India's captain.

Averaging around 14, SKY has amassed 201 runs in his 17 innings, and on the other hand, Shubman Gill, the vice-captain of the side, has averaged around 20 after 14 innings. Both these batters are yet to score a half-century in 2025.

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Sanju Samson to be brought back into India's XI for the Dharamsala T20I?

After another batting collapse in the second match, former Indian batter Robin Uthappa has urged for a change in the Indian playing XI. He backed the inclusion of Samson in the side.

While speaking on the Star Sports show, "Follow the Blues," he opined that Shubman Gill should continue to open with Abhishek Sharma, but Sanju Samson should make his move from the bench and replace Jitesh Sharma in the XI.

"I would like to see Shubman and Abhishek Sharma opening the batting. Complete left field here, Sanju Samson at No. 3, Suryakumar Yadav at No. 4 and Tilak Varma at No. 5, and then so on and so forth," he said.

The former opener further stated that the hosts would still continue to have batting depth and enough options with the ball.

"You still have Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube and Axar Patel. So your eight batters are sorted, and you have five bowlers. I would love to see that XI. I think that would be the ideal XI for India," Uthappa observed.

"He needs to have a fixed spot," said the former Indian wicket-keeper on Suryakumar Yadav

Speaking in the same show, Robin Uthappa also opined on what would help Suryakumar Yadav to get back his A game. He said that the captain should have a batting spot fixed in the XI; it is to be noted that under Rohit Sharma's leadership, SKY had a fixed spot in the middle order.

"I definitely believe that, as far as Suryakumar Yadav is concerned, he needs to have a fixed slot. Whether No. 3 or No. 4, we know that in the IPL, he has scored a lot of runs at No. 4. Stick with him at No. 4," he reasoned.

It is also worth noting that Suryakumar scored many runs during the latest edition of the IPL for the Mumbai Indians, when he was slotted in at no. 4 for most of the season, and he surpassed the 25-run mark in over 15 innings, while in international cricket, he has breached the mark only twice.

"He needs to bat in his own mold" - Shubman Gill gets massive suggestions from a former KKR teammate

The cricket analyst also feels that Shubman Gill needs to take his time and play the game just like he has done over the years. He does not need to give in to the over-aggressive standards, especially with Abhishek Sharma at the opposite end.

"With Shubman Gill, I genuinely feel, for someone like him, he needs to bat in his own mold. He has got a method to score his runs. He has scored a lot of runs following his own method of scoring runs.

"He can try just getting in in the first few overs, and once he gets in, he ups the ante. After that, it's almost impossible to get him out," Uthappa observed.

In the South Africa series so far, while Suryakumar Yadav averages 8.50 in two games, amassing 17 runs, Shubman Gill has scored 4 runs and averages 2. It is high time for the Indian leaders to get runs with the ICC T20 World Cup approaching in 2 months.

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