Deep Dasgupta gives his opinion on Sanju Samson-Shubman Gill debate in Asia Cup

Ever since India’s squad for the upcoming Asia Cup was announced, the return of Shubman Gill after more than a year has been the most discussed topic. Gill returned to the squad as a vice-captain and that has right away put a massive question mark on Sanju Samson’s spot at the top of the order. Former India cricketer Deep Dasgupta has given his opinion on whom India should prefer in the playing XI.

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According to him, Gill should get the nod ahead of Samson as the former is the vice-captain of the team. Abhishek Sharma has already been confirmed as the first-choice opener by the chief selector Ajit Agarkar during the squad announcement.

Moreover, Dasgupta further opined that Samson doesn’t have a place down the order either, with Tilak Varma and captain Suryakumar Yadav occupying the number three and four slots, respectively.

“For me, I would say now that Shubman is the vice-captain, he definitely plays along. So that we have a left-right combination. At 3-4, I can't look beyond Surya and Tilak at this point. Again, left-hand, right-hand combination. I think in this format, if you have that option, you've got to look at keeping that going as long as possible through an innings,” he said while speaking to Revsportz.

Deep Dasgupta picks Jitesh over Sanju as finisher

Moreover, Deep Dasgupta also reckoned that Sanju Samson shouldn’t bat down the order. He believes that India shouldn’t tinker with their lower middle-order and backed Jitesh Sharma for the finisher’s role ahead of Samson.

“If you can't make a place for Sanju in the top 3, then it becomes a little difficult. So, if it comes down to 5-6-7, I think I'm going to pick Jitesh over Sanju. He is a better option than Sanju,” the former India cricketer added.

Opening up more on Shubman Gill, Deep Dasgupta backed the India vice-captain to play a Virat Kohli kind of a role in a team filled with big hitters. He reckons that Gill’s ability to grind it through on tough pitches might just help India in the Asia Cup

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