Razdan Advocates for Sanju Samson Over Vaibhav Suryavanshi in India’s T20I Opener

India will face Afghanistan in a three-match T20I series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi starting Sunday. The top-order lineup is a key talking point, with Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, and 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi all vying for opening spots. Razdan supports retaining Shreyas Iyer at No. 4 and strongly advocates for Samson at the top, emphasizing performance over maintaining a left-right batting mix.

Vivek Razdan backs Sanju Samson to open for India

Razdan insists Iyer should keep his batting position despite the depth of options available. He dismissed the notion of picking a batter solely to balance right-handed and left-handed batsmen. Citing Samson’s recent T20 form, Razdan endorsed him for the opening role.

“I think Shreyas should not change his number at the moment. He should remain at number 4. Because for the top 3, you already have four names. You have Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, and Ishaan Kishan, but all three are left-handers. You have a player who, just a few months ago, made more than 300 runs with a strike rate of 200 and won us the World Cup. So, he is a very good player,” Razdan said.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi faces selection battle

Suryavanshi, who debuted recently in England, has become a major point of discussion ahead of the series. However, competition for the opening spots remains fierce. The first T20I also marks Iyer’s first home series as captain. Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar, and Nitish Kumar Reddy have returned from injury layoffs.

“So, I feel that while going into the first match, you should still play with Sanju Samson,” he said.

Although Razdan acknowledged the value of the left-right combination, he ultimately preferred Samson at the top. Afghanistan, led by Ibrahim Zadran, will look for their first-ever T20I victory over India. Historically, the teams have met nine times, with India winning eight and one match ending without a result.

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