India registered a comfortable five-wicket win against Australia in the third T20I at Hobart on Sunday (November 2). The visitors made plenty of changes to their playing XI for this fixture in a bid to find the perfect combination for World Cup 2026. Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav and Harshit Rana were the ones left out while Jitesh Sharma, Arshdeep Singh and Washington Sundar slotted into the XI.
Sanju Samson looked out of place as a middle order batter in Dubai. Now with Gill and Abhishek sorted and Surya and Tilak able Nos 3 and 4, it was always about time that Jitesh comes in. Unless he gets injured, Jitesh will be first choice keeper going forward and like sanju he…
— Kushan Sarkar (@kushansarkar) November 2, 2025
You could argue that the changes of Kuldeep and Rana were tactical but Samson's exclusion might have been a forced move. The Kerala batter isn't a natural lower middle order batter in T20Is but his stellar form in the shortest format made it difficult for the management to drop him from the XI.
The Shubman Gill factor
India's squad for the Asia Cup had a big update - Shubman Gill not only returned to the T20I squad after a long gap but was also named vice-captain. It meant that he was a sure starter and it is no rocket science that Gill is a natural opener who can perhaps bat at no.3 if he isn't opening. This directly impacted Samson despite his exceptional form over the last 12 months.
Samson's pace issues
Even while he was scoring a truckload of runs in the last 12 months, the England series at home showed that Samson had a bit of vulnerability against genuine pace. The English quicks exploited it and since that, Samson hasn't quite been his freeflowing self against fast bowling.
Jitesh Sharma's versatility
In Jitesh Sharma, India has a natural lower middle order batter for T20 cricket and he is also a wicket-keeper, meaning that it was only a matter of time before Jitesh replaced Samson in the XI. The change worked in Hobart as Jitesh struck an unbeaten 22 off just 13 balls to guide India home. With this innings, he is sure to play the next two games and that doesn't look good for Samson's future.
Gill's fading T20I form
The only way Samson has a realistic chance of slotting back into the XI is by replacing Gill at the top of the order. Usually, being a vice-captain assures you of a long rope, especially when you are the captain of the Test and ODI squads. However, head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar have constantly shown that they can make bold moves.
Gill or Samson?
Going by pure ability, Gill is a more complete player, affluent against both pace and spin with equal ease. His issue, however, is that his intent can be inconsistent in this format. That has been an area where Gill has shown tremendous improvement in the last two years in the IPL. However, only 184 runs in ten innings since his comeback is far from ideal and if he continues to fail, a decision will have to be made.
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Gill has two games in this Australia series and if he continues to fail, we could see Samson batting at the top of the order during the South Africa T20Is in December. It might be too early for the selectors to drop Gill but it is also true that he needs a big score sooner than later. After all, Samson has terrific stats as opener in T20Is.
