India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav faces the sweet headache of having so many talented players in his ranks after leading the team to a 3-1 T20I series win in South Africa on Friday (November 15).
With a wealth of talent vying for places in India’s T20I squad, the captain acknowledged the challenges and opportunities posed by the current crop of players. Sanju Samson’s fiery form has become a hot topic among the cricket fraternity.
Suryakumar Yadav faces a “sweet headache” with an overflowing talent pool
Sanju Samson has been a revelation at the top of the order in the shortest format of the game ever since he stepped in for regular openers Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal. The 30-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman has already smashed three centuries in his last five T20I appearances for the Men in Blue.
Sanju Samson’s consistency and talent have ignited debates about the future combination of the Indian T20I line-up, especially with marquee tournaments like the T20 World Cup 2026 on the horizon. However, Suryakumar Yadav prefers to keep his focus on the present.
After clinching the T20I series in South Africa, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav emphasized that decisions on team formations will be taken in due course after consulting the coaches, selectors and BCCI.
Sanju Samson’s fiery form fuels the T20I selection dilemma
Questions have been raised about Samson’s role in the T20I side, especially with the return of Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Suryakumar admitted it was difficult to whittle down a squad of 20-25 talented players to 15, but he sees it as a sign of the team’s depth and strength.
India Today quoted Suryakumar Yadav as saying, “I haven’t thought too far about it. I like to live in the moment, to enjoy the streak now. It’s going to be tough when you sit down with the coaches, but it’s a good headache. If you have 20-25 people and you have to make a team of 10-15 players, it will be difficult, but thankfully BTSO and I have selectors for this headache”.
The Indian skipper further added, “Even before the World Cup, we played a few T20 tournaments and talked about what kind of cricket we want to play going forward. We play for different franchises in the IPL, but when we come together I think we want to do the same thing we do for our franchise.”
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Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma and Arshdeep Singh shine brightly in the 3rd T20I.
This was India’s last T20I series in 2024 and they will next play a T20I match in 2025 against England. Talking about the final T20I against South Africa, Sanju Samson (109*) and Tilak Varma (120*) smashed unbeaten centuries to take India to a mammoth 283/1.
Later, Arshdeep Singh’s three-wicket haul helped India restrict South Africa to just 148 runs and ended the year with a massive 135-run victory to clinch the four-match T20I series 3-1. Varun Chakravarty and Axar Patel also scored twice in a big win over the Proteas side.
