Shubman Gill Out! Sanju Samson might get a chance to open, Team India likely XI against Australia in 1st T20I

Shubman Gill opened the innings for India in all three ODIs against Australia but couldn’t perform well, scoring just 10, 9, and 24 runs. His total of only 43 runs in the series was the lowest among India’s top six batters.

Even in the Asia Cup, Gill struggled, except for one good innings of 47 runs off 28 balls against Pakistan in the Super Fours match on September 21. Considering his current poor form, the Indian team management might rest him for the first T20I against Australia on Wednesday (October 29) and give Sanju Samson a chance to open the innings instead.

Sanju Samson, who is India’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batter in T20Is, performed brilliantly as an opener last year, scoring three centuries two of them in South Africa. His performances at the top of the order were impressive. However, when Shubman Gill was included in the squad, Samson was moved down to the middle order. There, he did a decent job, though he couldn’t make as big an impact as he did while opening.

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Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested for the ODI series, is back in the T20I squad and will lead India’s bowling attack. The 31-year-old pacer from Ahmedabad will be supported by Arshdeep Singh, who is expected to share the new ball with him in Australia. With Hardik Pandya not part of the squad, there’s also a good chance for Harshit Rana to get a place in the playing XI during the series.

India’s likely playing XI for the 1st T20I against Australia: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.