Asia Cup 2025: First nets session raises doubts over Sanju Samson’s playing 11 spot

Sanju Samson unlikely to play Asia Cup match against UAE, suggests practice session. (Photo: BCCI)

The Asia Cup 2025 is set to kick off on September 9, and Team India has already begun its preparations at the ICC Academy in Dubai. Several key players, including Rinku Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, captain Suryakumar Yadav, and others, spent extended hours in the nets to adapt to the UAE conditions.

The very first practice session also gave a strong indication regarding India’s preferred wicketkeeper option amid the ongoing debate between Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma. While Samson has been impressive with the bat in recent T20Is, most of his standout knocks have come while opening the innings, a role that currently seems unavailable for him.

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As reported by Cricbuzz, it was Jitesh Sharma who was handed long and intensive wicketkeeping drills. Samson, in contrast, spent much of the session on the sidelines after completing his warm-ups.

During the first few hours of training, Gill, Abhishek, Suryakumar, Tilak Varma, Jitesh, and Rinku were heavily involved in batting and keeping practice. Gill and Abhishek even paired up in the nets, facing pace attacks from Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah, while Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube rolled their arms over as well.

Rinku Singh, expected to play the finisher’s role in the tournament, worked extensively against the spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Axar Patel. Tilak and Suryakumar also had dedicated sessions against the spinners.

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Among the slow bowlers, Varun Chakaravarthy stood out, bowling the longest spell before shifting to catching drills with fielding coach T Dilip, an area identified for his improvement.

On the sidelines, head coach Gautam Gambhir was seen in a deep discussion with captain Suryakumar and vice-captain Gill about strategies. However, from Sanju Samson’s viewpoint, the day was far from encouraging—he skipped fielding drills altogether and had only a short batting stint. Judging by this opening nets session, the signs suggest that Jitesh Sharma may already have edged ahead in the race for the wicketkeeper’s slot in the playing XI.