- By Namrata Vijay
- Fri, 12 Dec 2025 04:23 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
IND vs SA 2nd T20I: Ex-India cricketer Subramaniam Badrinath got emotional on live TV as he felt for Sanju Samson for being continuously snubbed from India's playing XI. He had slammed the team management and had asked how Shubman Gill was given preference over Smason in this format.
Badrinath made these statements after Gill got out for a duck in the second T20I against South Africa. This was the third time that he had scored in a single digit. During the first T20I, he got out after scoring 4 runs off just two balls.
The team management has been questioned for their continuous backing of Gill as an opener, even though he has failed to perform. Gill became India's T20I vice-captain ever since he made a comeback to the T20I side. The management ended an opening partnership with Samson and Abhishek Sharma to make way for Gill. Samson was earlier pushed down as a middle-order batter and then was snubbed from the playing XI in the series against Australia.
“Sanju Samson has scored three hundreds. We are talking about T20 cricket, and he has three hundreds. What more do you want as a player? It is a little painful to see a player who has performed so well warming the bench,” Badrinath was quoted as saying on Star Sports.
“He is the vice-captain of the team. I think only a player who is a certainty in the XI can be captain or vice-captain. He has been made vice-captain with these numbers. I can understand if there are no back-ups, but India has no dearth of talent in T20s,” he said.
THEY ARE CONFUSED: SRIKKANTH
Empathising with his feelings, Kris Srikkanth also emphasised the difference in the stats between these two players and that the team management was confused about selecting the team.
“His (Samson’s) strike rate is 183 — that’s on another level. What are they even saying in press conferences? Each one is saying different things. They say it’s a battle between Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma. There is no clarity in what they are saying. They say Gill is a good player, and they are giving him opportunities,” he added.
Srikkanth also criticised why someone like Axar Patel came into bat at the No.3 position when they were chasing a mammoth target of 214. He was seen struggling to bat at this position and had scored just 21 runs, and couldn't do much after Gill's early dismissal.
Tilak Varma's gritty fifty went in vain as they were skittled out for 162 runs, and the visitors made a brilliant comeback to level the series 1-1.
“See, they themselves are confused. They don’t know why Axar Patel came in at No. 3. We are talking about the Indian team. Where is the fairness? Even when you give him chances, you are shuffling him around,” he added.
Samson has scored 417 runs after playing in 13 T20Is at a brilliant strike rate of 182 after winning the 2024 T20 World Cup, which also includes three tons. Gill, at the same time, has scored 506 runs after playing in 21 matches at a strike rate of 136.
The team management has consistently backed Gill, while Ryan ten Doeschate has also dismissed issues around his form.
“Shubman, I saw some good signs of a change in mentality towards the back end of that Australian tour. I wouldn’t read too much into these two dismissals in this series. In the first game, we asked the guys to go out there and attack the power play, and it wasn’t a great wicket at Cuttack, so I’ll let him off for that one. Today, I thought he got a good ball — that can happen when you’re short on form,” he told reporters in the post-match press conference.
Gill will again be backed for the third T20I on Sunday. The Men in Blue will be playing eight more T20Is, three against the Proteas and five T20Is against New Zealand, ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup.