India vs Bangladesh: Suryakumar confirms Samson will open with Abhishek in T20I series, hails 'X factor' Mayank

India T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav on Saturday confirmed that Sanju Samson will open along with Abhishek Sharma in the upcoming three-match T20I series against Bangladesh that gets underway in Gwalior on Sunday. Ever since making his international debut in 2015, Samson has been in and out of the team on occasions, but with the Kerala batter being given the openers’ slot, that will give him the opportunity to shine with the bat.

“Sanju will open in this series," Suryakumar Yadav said at the pre-match press conference on Saturday. Samson was part of India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad this year, but did not get a chance to play a game in the tournament proper.

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He played the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe that followed, where he scored 70 runs, including a fifty in the third match.

SKY to lead an IPL franchise? 

Suryakumar Yadav is enjoying his time as India T20 captain and dropped enough hints on Saturday about his ambitions of leading an IPL franchise in the near future. Mumbai Indians would ideally like to retain Suryakumar but being a current India captain, it would also be interesting as to what is his expectation from the five-time champion outfit.

Hardik Pandya grabbed the limelight last year when MI removed Rohit Sharma unceremoniously to put the colourful Baroda all-rounder on the hot seat, the move that backfired badly as MI finished last in IPL 2024.

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Suryakumar’s stock has risen since that last IPL and now that he is leading the national team, it remains to be seen what Mumbai Indians decide in the lead up to the IPL.

“Aapne googly daal diya aapne (laughs) (You put me in a spot with a wrong ’un). Really enjoying this new role (as India captain). When I was playing under Rohit bhai’s captaincy in MI, I used to give my inputs whatever I felt at that time.

”For India also feeling good. I captained against Sri Lanka previously against Australia and South Africa also. I have learnt from other captains on how to take the team forward. Aage dekhte hain. Chalte rahta hain. Baaki aapko pata toh chal hee jayega ((Let’s see how it goes. Rest you will know in due course of time),” that was Surya’s witty response to the IPL leadership question.

‘Mayank definitely has that X-factor’

Pace sensation Mayank Yadav has been fast-tracked into the national team and is expected to make his debut in the series against Bangladesh. Suryakumar did not play him in the nets here but like everyone else he was impressed with his sensational IPL debut earlier this year.

“The series is a good chance for the youngsters. Mayank has that X-factor and others as well. I have not played in my nets thus far. But have seen his potential and the impact he can make,” said the skipper.

Will he make his debut on Sunday? “We were discussing the team just now. If you asked me 10 minutes later I would have told you whether he would play or not. But surely he has that extra pace. Need to manage him properly. There is a lot of cricket going on both international and domestic circuit,” said Surya.

“He is a good addition to the Indian team,” he said referring to Mayank who has not played since suffering a side strain in the IPL back in April. “He is doing his fitness (drills) as well,” added the 34 year-old.

Bangladesh batter Towhid Hridoy expects the pitch to play slow at the newly built stadium but India captain thinks otherwise about the 22 yards.

“The pitch looks good. We have batting on practice wickets there will not be too much change compared to the pitch chosen for tomorrow. We will see tomorrow.”, Hridoy said.

‘If all batters can bowl an over or two, it’s good for the team’  

Suryakumar himself bowled in the previous series against Sri Lanka and he is all for batters rolling their arm over for an over or two if the situation demands.

“It can only be good if we can get couple of overs from the batters. In this squad most of them can bowl. We saw that in Sri Lanka as well. If you have the skill why not.”

With inputs from PTI