Asia Cup 2025: Is Sanju Samson playing in India vs Pakistan Match 6?
Contrary to a lot of reports, Samson has been picked in the squad ahead of Jitesh Sharma as their wicketkeeper.
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There were a lot of talks surrounding Sanju Samson's involvement in India's Playing XI of Match 6 of the ongoing Asia Cup 2025 encounter against the arch-rivals Pakistan. While Jitesh Sharma was announced as the preferred wicketkeeper-batter at the time of squad announcement, the Indian team has gone with Samson in the role for two straight games now.
Like the game against the UAE, the Kerala cricketer will not be seen opening the batting, like the norm had been in the lead up to the tournament. However, he will play a crucial role in the middle order, as Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill will take care of things at the top. Samson did not get to bat in India's first match of the tournament, but he was impressive behind the wickets with his glove work.
Toss Update
Suryakumar Yadav was quite straightforward in making it official that the Indian team will take the field unchanged from their previous match-up. The Indian captain seems to have done it to keep the winning combination intact. However, this time they will be batting first at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, as the stage is all set for a thrilling encounter between the two fiercest competitors in cricketing history.
What did the captains say?
Suryakumar Yadav (India captain)
We'll bowl first. Looks a nice fresh wicket. Humid also today, might be dew later. If we get an opportunity, we're flexible to do anything but today we want to bowl. We came here early, had 3-4 good practice sessions and also a day off.
Salman Ali Agha (Pakistan captain)
We're going to bat first. We've been playing good cricket, very excited. Looks like a slow wicket. Just want to bat first and put runs on the board. Same side. Have been here for 20-odd days and are used to the conditions.
IND vs PAK, Match 6 Playing 11s
India
Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy
Pakistan
Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris(w), Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha(c), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed