IND vs SA 2025: Why is Sanju Samson not playing in IND vs SA 1st T20I?

Published - 09 Dec 2025, 18:17 IST | Updated - 09 Dec 2025, 18:42 IST

India are set to face South Africa in a five-match T20I series, with the opening match scheduled to take place at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Tuesday, December 9. South Africa won the toss and elected to bowl first. The Proteas dominated the Test series 2-0, while India bounced back with a 2-1 victory in the three-match ODI series. With momentum shifting between both sides, each team will now look to finish the tour on a positive note as the T20I series gets underway.

South Africa captain Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to field first, noting that the pitch conditions looked good with a bit of expected dew later in the evening. He added that the series would serve as a fantastic buildup to the T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav said he was slightly unsure about how the wicket would behave but welcomed the challenge, expressing confidence that the series would be a valuable test for the team.

India left out Sanju Samson from their playing XI for the first T20I, opting instead for Jitesh Sharma as the wicketkeeper. Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, and Harshit Rana also missed out on selection for the series opener. Meanwhile, South Africa entered the contest with a pace-heavy attack, fielding four fast bowlers.

We're going to bowl first. Expecting conditions to be good here in India. Quite a bit of dew around, might be a constant throughout the game but might get a bit worse later. (Quick turnaround time between formats) It's the way things work, lot of the games end up playing in the mind, need to get yourself in the right frame of mind. Fantastic build-up to the World Cup. From a conditions point of view, it's going to be great. You can’t simulate these, certainly not back in South Africa, so that’s a massive thing. And then obviously testing yourself against one of the better outfits in the world. Looking forward to that, seeing where we are. And we’ve got another couple of months after this to fine-tune things and hopefully be ready for that World Cup.

We were a little confused looking at the wicket, it was looking a bit greener yesterday. Happy to bat first, want to make the most of it and defend. It (dew) becomes a little challenging for the bowlers, it is going to remain for a really long time. Let's not think about it, have it as a challenge. We had a good series in Australia, now we play against South Africa and then against New Zealand. It's good preparation. Want to enjoy it. It's a good headache to have. The guys missing out are Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar and Harshit Rana.

Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma(w), Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh

Quinton de Kock(w), Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Lutho Sipamla, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje