‘Gill as backup opener, Samson at No 5?’ – Aakash Chopra on India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad

The need for a backup opener in India’s lineup for the forthcoming Asia Cup has been discussed by former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra. The management will be hesitant to play without Abhishek Sharma, he added. In the T20I series played up to the Champions Trophy, Chopra thought about how there was no other alternative but Abhishek and Sanju Samson.

“No one needs to leave, in my opinion. You should always have another opener on hand. In the Twenty20 International series against England, India did not select a third opener. They didn’t even consider who would open in the event that Sanju Samson or Abhishek Sharma faltered.

In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said, “You will have to keep the third opener in the World Cup if you don’t keep him here.”

Additionally, he noted that the team’s makeup would make it impossible to include both Samson and Gill in the starting lineup because Samson is probably only going to be used as an opener and the middle order is crowded with Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav.

But do you want to put Shubman Gill on the bench if he’s the third opener? Who will you start him in if you don’t do it and start him in the starting lineup? Who will keep the player if his name is Sanju Samson? That’s the issue. Sanju Samson does not bat in the middle order. Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav will start at number three and four, respectively. Sanju at number five? It won’t make for a nice story,” he continued.

In addition, the former cricket player gave his opinion on why Samson and Gill would not be included in the Asia Cup team.

“It goes against Sanju to go out five times in a row against the short ball versus England. What is opposed to Shubman? Can Shubman Gill get ingrained in the DNA of a destructive team? The key question is that. “Yashasvi Jaiswal can undoubtedly be incorporated into that DNA, but are they considering Yashasvi?” said Chopra.

India, Pakistan, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates are all in Group A for the 2025 Asia Cup. Next month, on September 9, the competition is set to begin.