IND vs SA: Gill vs Samson for Opening Slot — Here’s Who Suryakumar Yadav Backs

T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav is happy about the return of Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya to the Indian team after recovering from injuries. He said that the experienced Hardik's arrival has brought balance to the team. India will play five T20Is against South Africa from December 9. The first match will be held in Cuttack. Suryakumar Yadav spoke to reporters before this match . He said that Shubman Gill is worthy of replacing Sanju Samson for the opening position . Sanju, who made a comeback to T20s in 2023, took advantage of the opportunities that came his way. He performed consistently as an opener until October 2024. With Shubman Gill having become a regular in the T20 squad since the Asia Cup, Samson was brought into the middle order. However, he only scored a half-century in five innings in that position. As a result, Sanju was dropped from the final three matches of the five-match T20 series against the Aussies in November, giving way to Jitesh Sharma.

"Sanju opened when he had the opportunity. Now the management wants everyone else to be ready to bat anywhere, except the openers. Samson has excelled as an opener. But before him, Gill opened in the series against Sri Lanka. So Shubman deserves to play in that position. We have given Samson a lot of opportunities. He is ready to bat in any position. This is very useful for the team. Jitesh Sharma and Samson are similar players. Having both of them in the team will help the team. It is good to have a headache to choose which of the two in the final team," Suryakumar said. When asked why Rinku Singh was not selected for the T20 series with the Safaris, Suryakumar evaded the answer.