‘You should still play with Sanju Samson’ - Vivek Razdan backs Kerala batter ahead of Afghanistan T20I

Former India cricketer and renowned commentator Vivek Razdan has backed Sanju Samson to open the innings alongside one of the other available options in India's first T20I against Afghanistan. He also believes captain Shreyas Iyer should continue batting at No. 4 rather than moving up the order.

India are set to begin their three-match T20I series against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday. The team management faces a selection headache at the top of the order, with Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson and 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi all in contention for the opening slots.

Iyer, meanwhile, has been batting at No. 3 for Punjab Kings in the IPL and could also be considered for a top-order role. However, Razdan feels the India captain should retain his preferred position at No. 4 for the series opener.

"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 Sooryavanshi, and Ishaan Kishan, but all three are left-handers. You already have many left-handers in your team. One should be included in the playing XI just because he is a right-hander - no! I do not agree with that at all," said Razdan during a press meet organised by Sony Sports.

'Performance is the key': Vivek Razdan backs merit over left-right combination

Speaking ahead of the first T20I, Razdan stressed that performances should be given more importance than maintaining a left-right combination in the batting order.

"Who is that batsman? How has his performance been? This is very important. So, if I do not have a right-hander who has performed like this, then I will say you can play seven left-handers. Performance is the key. It is never a problem that you play with your left hand or right hand," he said.

Razdan then backed Samson to open the innings, highlighting the wicketkeeper-batter's impressive recent record in T20 cricket.

Talking about Samson, he said, "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."

The former India cricketer acknowledged that captains often prefer having a left-right combination at the top but believes Samson's recent performances should earn him a place among the openers.

"As a captain, sometimes you think about that left-right combination in batting. If all the left-handers play, it will be easy for their opponent to play the game holding the same line. Now, every player has his own importance, his own speciality, his own strength. So, I feel that while going to the first match, you should still play with Sanju Samson," he said.

With Abhishek, Kishan, Samson and Sooryavanshi competing for the opening spots, India's top-order combination will be one of the major talking points ahead of the series opener. Sooryavanshi, 15, recently made his international debut in England and has quickly become one of the biggest talking points around the Indian team.

The first T20I will also be Iyer's first home series as India's captain. Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy have returned to the squad after recovering from their respective injuries.

Afghanistan, meanwhile, will be led by Ibrahim Zadran and will be aiming to register their first T20I win over India. The two teams have faced each other nine times in the format, with India winning eight matches, while one encounter ended without a result.