Sanju Samson, the wicketkeeper-batsman and hero of the match against Oman, could be the 12th player for India. This doesn’t mean he will be excluded from India’s playing eleven. Samson will be in the Indian playing eleven for the Super-4 match against Pakistan. The reference to him being the 12th player pertains to his potential inclusion in the list of Indian players who have scored over 1000 runs in T20 Internationals. Currently, there are 11 Indian players on that list, and Sanju Samson could become the 12th.
Here’s a look at the 11 Indian players and their runs in T20 Internationals. Rohit Sharma tops the list of Indian players with the most runs in T20 Internationals, having scored 4231 runs. Virat Kohli is right behind Rohit with 4188 runs. Both these players have retired from T20Is.
India’s T20I captain, Suryakumar Yadav, has 2652 runs and is third on the list. KL Rahul has scored 2265 runs and is in fourth place. Hardik Pandya holds the fifth position in the list of 11 players, with 1813 runs. Shikhar Dhawan has 1759 runs and MS Dhoni has 1617 runs. Suresh Raina is at number 8 on the list with 1605 runs. Rishabh Pant is in the 9th position, having scored 1209 runs. Yuvraj Singh has 1177 runs and Shreyas Iyer has 1104 runs, placing them in the 10th and 11th positions, respectively.
Sanju Samson can become the 12th player to join this list of 11 Indian players. However, for that, he needs to score 83 runs in the Super-4 match against Pakistan. Sanju Samson has scored 917 runs in 39 innings of 45 T20Is. If Sanju Samson achieves this milestone in the Super-4 against Pakistan, it would be ideal. But, even if it doesn’t happen, he will have the opportunity to achieve it in the Asia Cup 2025.