{"id":11326,"date":"2025-09-08T23:48:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T23:48:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/08\/sanju-samson-not-in-playing-xi-plans-report-from-indian-nets-suggests-cricket-news\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T23:48:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T23:48:56","slug":"sanju-samson-not-in-playing-xi-plans-report-from-indian-nets-suggests-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/08\/sanju-samson-not-in-playing-xi-plans-report-from-indian-nets-suggests-cricket-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanju Samson Not In Playing XI Plans? Report From Indian Nets Suggests… | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Sanju Samson faces uncertainty in Team India as Gautam Gambhir prioritises batting depth, with Jitesh Sharma and Shivam Dube favoured during Asia Cup 2025 nets.<\/h2>\n
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Sanju Samson or Jitesh Sharma – Who will find the spot in playing XI?<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Being Sanju Samson these days is tough, especially with the risk of losing his spot in the Indian playing eleven as the team searches for the ideal combination.<\/p>\n

When the Indian team arrived at the ICC Cricket Academy Arena for their evening net session ahead of the Asia Cup, Samson was the first to start his solo keeping drills with fielding coach T Dilip, while others were just warming up.<\/p>\n

As per a report in PTI, He was highly focused and received praise for a full-stretched diving catch to his right. Head coach Gautam Gambhir then walked up to him. For three minutes, Gambhir engaged in a deep conversation with the Kerala player, who listened intently.<\/p>\n

It seemed Gambhir was discussing batting rather than keeping drills.<\/p>\n

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VIDEO | Asia Cup 2025: At the practice session at ICC Cricket Academy in Dubai, Team India Head Coach Gautam Gambhir was seen engrossed in a discussion with wicket-keeper batsman Sanju Samson.Sanju Samson went through extensive keeping drills under the close supervision of\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/5NHfrmc1U0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 8, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Jitesh Sharma Guaranteed To Play?<\/h2>\n

Jitesh Sharma\u2019s confident strides from the clubhouse indicated a lot. The RCB keeper appeared relaxed, and when batting drills began, he, along with Shivam Dube, Tilak Verma, and Hardik Pandya, took turns to bat, with the middle-order players getting the first go.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, as this quartet batted, Samson returned to the ground in his batting gear but soon quietly walked away, sitting behind a palm tree near the dressing room clubhouse.<\/p>\n

One by one, vice-captain Shubman Gill, skipper Suryakumar Yadav, and Abhishek Sharma, who also bowled, took turns to bat two or three times. Samson, however, was not called to bat even once.<\/p>\n

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VIDEO | Indian cricket team\u2019s vice-captain Shubman Gill looked calm and composed while going through regular warm-up drills during training at ICC\u2019s Academy in Dubai. He then joined Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube and skipper Suryakumar Yadav in the nets.#AsiaCup2025<\/a> #ShubmanGill<\/a>\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/59LwbCrzLt<\/a>\u2014 Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 8, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Later, he approached the nets again but, realising he wouldn\u2019t bat, casually sat on an ice box. Meanwhile, Dube, after a round of batting, bowled his medium pacers and again padded up to bat. Samson continued sitting on the ice box.<\/p>\n

Finally, when everyone was done, Samson entered the nets. A net bowler delivered a half-tracker, and he missed. That summed up his day.<\/p>\n

Rinku Singh didn\u2019t even bother padding up, indicating that he is not in the current plans. Towards the end of the net session, he padded up and took throwdowns from a support staff member who wasn\u2019t a specialist.<\/p>\n

This shows where Rinku currently stands in the pecking order.<\/p>\n

As the training session progressed, it became clear that fitting in Samson and placing Tilak at No.6, as Sunil Gavaskar suggested, wouldn\u2019t be possible.<\/p>\n

Gambhir\u2019s focus has been on enhancing batting depth and including batting all-rounders. Hence, Jitesh Sharma as a finisher would also help keep a powerful six-hitter like Shivam Dube in the mix.<\/p>\n

During Mahendra Singh Dhoni\u2019s days and sometimes under Rahul Dravid\u2019s coaching, net sessions often held a certain intrigue and didn\u2019t clearly indicate what might happen.<\/p>\n

But with Gambhir, what you see is what you get. Every minute of the net session reflects his match strategy, and Jitesh wouldn\u2019t be batting for an hour two days before the first match if he wasn\u2019t in his plans.<\/p>\n

(With inputs from PTI)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Ritayan Basu<\/a><\/p>\n

Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes cricket content, havin…Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes cricket content, havin… Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Location :<\/span><\/p>\n

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

First Published:<\/span><\/p>\n
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September 08, 2025, 22:28 IST<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

News<\/a> cricket<\/a> Sanju Samson Not In Playing XI Plans? Report From Indian Nets Suggests…<\/span><\/div>\n
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