Exclusive | ‘Gambhir wants a captain who…’ – Manoj Tiwary on Gill replacing Samson as opener in Asia Cup

Playing under the new T20I regime, Sanju Samson has thrived. Since Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir took over as India captain and head coach, not only the team but also Samson has found newfound success. At one point, the wicketkeeper batter scored 3 hundreds in 5 matches.

Yet, when the Asia Cup 2025 came, Samson was moved from the opener spot. Shubman Gill, who hadn’t played a T20I since July last year, replaced the wicketkeeper as Abhishek Sharma’s partner. In the aftermath, Samson has been shifted to the middle order and is yet to bat in the Asia Cup.

Gill’s got the calibre

Former Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwary finds it odd himself. In an exclusive chat with InsideSport, he praised Gill as a batter, citing his exploits in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as Gujarat Titans captain, but was dumbfounded by the decision.

“See, Shubman Gill is equally good (compared to Samson). He has shown that in the IPL. He’s been an outstanding batter and a good captain in the IPL. He’s taken more responsibility when the role has been given to him. I’ve been a very close observer of how he was doing his captaincy on the field, and he took more responsibility when batting. In one of the games, he finished the game with his batting being not out, which shows that he’s taken that role very seriously as the captain,” Manoj told InsideSport.

Why break successful Samson-Abhishek duo

But Manoj doesn’t understand on what basis the opening duo of Samson and Abhishek has been changed. Playing together, they have taken India to scores of 297 and 283 in the last 12 months. Combined, they have hit 5 hundreds and 3 fifties. Their strike rates are through the roof as well. Which begs the question, why change what’s working for you?

“But you have to see that before Gill was in the T20I squad, in Zimbabwe and against Bangladesh, we saw Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson give you the starts which we never imagined as cricket fans or cricketers, or Team India, would ever show that sort of an approach to a T20I game. When these two individuals have given you such performances in the Bangladesh series and in Zimbabwe, scoring hundreds, then why would you want to change that pair and bring in Shubman Gill?” Manoj added.

Most runs in T20Is for India since July 1, 2024

Gambhir wants control?

Labelled as ‘prince’ long back, Gill is expected to be India’s next all-format captain after Rohit Sharma leaves the ODI leadership. Manoj thinks that Gambhir has brought Gill into the side because he’ll listen to him. As things stand, Gill’s a captain who’s just one series old. He’ll do as Gambhir tells him to.

“The reasons are well known. It’s an open secret that he wants a captain who will listen to him. Along with that, Gill is so good technically while he’s batting and at adjusting in every format. So he’s got a guy who’s going to listen to him. Gill has never led Team India before this England series, right? So, he (Gambhir) doesn’t want to get into any conflict. If the coach brings him in, he’ll obviously listen to him,” he concluded.

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