Sanju Samson To Open, Dube & Rinku As Finisher? India's Strongest Playing XI For T20I Series Against Bangladesh

India will face Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series, which is set to start on October 6 in Gwalior. Arun Jaitley Stadium will host the second match on October 9, and the third T20I is scheduled to take place in Hyderabad on October 12. The BCCI took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming bilateral series, and like it was reported, no player who is currently engaged in the Test series is picked in the T20I team as part of workload management.

India is set to play as many as eight Tests in the next three months, which is why selectors have decided to rest the high-profile players.

Suryakumar Yadav is fit and will lead the Men in Blue in T20I series. The 34-year-old right-handed batter, who is India’s third-leading run scorer in the shortest format of the game, is expected to bat at No. 3. In the absence of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma will open the innings, and wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson will be his opening partner.

The Kerala-based cricketer would like to come up with a big show in the upcoming series after a forgetful performance in the last assignment against Sri Lanka.

Assam-based Riyan Parag, Hardik Pandya, and Rinku Singh are almost confirmed to bat at 4, 5, and 6, and it will be interesting to see who out of Shivam Dube and Nitish Reddy manages to find a place in playing XI as the second fast-bowling all-rounder. Washington Sundar and Ravi Bishnoi are likely to be two first-choice spinners, and Arshdeep Singh will lead India’s pace attack.

Delhi-based Mayank Yadav and Harshit Rana are the other two fast bowlers picked in the 15-member squad, and they will fight for the second seamer spot.

Jitesh Sharma and Varun Chakravarthy are other members of the T20I squad, and while there’s a chance that Chakravarthy might get an opportunity to play one of the three matches, the same can’t be said about Jitesh because of Samson’s presence. In addition to his wicketkeeping, Samson can play as an opener, which gives him an edge over the Punjab Kings stumper.

India’s strongest playing XI for T20I series against Bangladesh: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Riyan Parag, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav.