Former India player turned commentator Aakash Chopra has picked his Indian playing XI for the first T20I against the West Indies. He picked up Sanju Samson ahead of Vaibhav Suryavanshi to partner Abhishek Sharma at the top of the order.
The first T20I of the five-match series between India and the West Indies will take place in Lucknow on Tuesday, October 6. Samson and Suryavanshi were both part of India’s playing XI in the recently concluded Asian Games 2026, with Samson batting at No. 3 as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “Sanju Samson with Abhishek Sharma, my two openers, Ishan Kishan at No. 3, captain Shreyas Iyer at No. 4, Tilak Varma at No. 5, Shivam Dube at No. 6, and Nitish Kumar Reddy at No. 7. You can interchange their batting order. Axar Patel at No. 8. After that, we will go to Kuldeep Yadav, then Arshdeep Singh, and one of the Yadavs. You can pick whichever Yadav you like. If you want out-and-out pace, you go with Mayank. If you want a little more skill to move the ball and cricketing smartness, you will go toward Prince Yadav.”
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However, Aakash Chopra added that Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma have a great record as a pair and that the former
was among the runs in the T20I series against Afghanistan as well.
“If you see Sanju and Abhishek’s numbers while batting together, they are absolutely stellar. Abhishek is in great form. Sanju Samson’s Asian Games wasn’t good, but he scored back-to-back fifties when he played against Afghanistan before that. That goes in Sanju’s favor. However, Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s 2026 is a year of reckoning. In the Asian Games, you could drop a bowler and play an extra batter, but that won’t be possible now. I will go toward Sanju Samson,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
Aakash Chopra’s India playing 11 for IND vs WI 2026 1st T20I:
Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav/Prince Yadav
