“I wouldn't be surprised if we see Sanju Samson coming in” - JP Duminy on Tilak Varma’s replacement

Former South African batter JP Duminy has stated that he would love to see Sanju Samson as Tilak Varma’s replacement at No.3, which gives India an advantage of a right-handed batter in their top order.

Notably, Tilak Varma has faced severe criticism from the cricketing fraternity, including the former cricketers, for his low strike rate despite playing the majority of the powerplay overs in the group stage of the ongoing showpiece event.

"What I love about Sanju is that it looks like he's playing that aggressive brand of cricket which India have certainly played for a period of time. He offers a right-handed option at the top of the order if need be. I wouldn't be surprised if we see Sanju coming in. It does put a little bit of pressure on a guy like Tilak Varma coming in early, trying to steady the ship. But it's a yin-yang situation, you have the strike rates on one side and the anchoring role on the other. Maybe there's a discussion around defining roles. Keeping the two left-handers up top and then Sanju at three, if they're going to go the Tilak Varma replacement route," Duminy said on Mr. Cricket UAE Podcast.

Furthermore, Duminy picked his players to watch for the India vs South Africa clash, going ahead with Aiden Markram and Marco Jansen as key players for South Africa, while picking Ishan Kishan and Jasprit Bumrah as India's players to keep a keen eye on.

"I'll be looking at Abhishek Sharma, who is one of the best in the world in this format, even though he's going through a bit of a tough time. Ishan Kishan is firing on all cylinders. He is in blazing form and playing fearless cricket much like Abhishek used to at one point," Duminy added.

"I'll be happy if India wins tomorrow and we win the finals,” he concluded.

India will take on South Africa in their first match of Super8 clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, on Sunday, February 22.

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