World Cup 2023: Sanju Samson ideal batting position revealed by ex-India and Australia stars

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Former India and Australia cricketers Abhishek Nayar and Brad Hogg have opened up on the ideal batting position for India in white-ball. The comments from the duo come after Samson's poor run on the West Indies tour.

The wicketkeeper-batter played five times (ODI and T20I series combined) and could cross the 20-run mark on just one occasion. Many have criticised Samson's inconsistency. The 28-year-old is part of the Ireland tour where India will be playing three T20Is, and in case he misses to fire there, his chances to be picked in India's Asia Cup 2023 and World Cup 2023 would be diminished heavily.

Former India international, Nayar has suggested that Samson should come at number three or should not be fielded in the playing eleven.

“I believe if you want to utilize Sanju Samson more, bat at No. 3 because that is his number. He is used to that and he is successful there, or else don’t play him,” said Nayar on JioCinema.

“If you are going to play him at No. 5 or No. 6, play Rinku Singh instead. If you play Samson in the top three, you will get more out of him because he plays shots in the powerplay and then plays the spinners. So I believe not the right place but he will get opportunities,” Nayar added.

On the other hand, Hogg has reckoned that Samson should get an opportunity to bat at number four if India's opts to open with Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma.

“If they open with Kishan and Rohit Sharma, I would have Tilak Varma coming in at No. 4. He has hardly played any one-day cricket. But the way he has operated in T20 cricket shows that he has got the goods for any situation," Hogg said.

“If they go with Gill and Rohit Sharma at the top of the order with Sanju Samson at No. 4 as the Indian keeper going into that World Cup. I think he can offer something substantial in that position," he added.

India are running against time to fix their middle-order conundrum in the lead up to the Asia Cup and World Cup 2023. The injuries of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer have added to the headache of the Indian team management.