Wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson, who shone in the match against Oman, might be considered the 12th player for India. This doesn’t suggest he will be left out of the playing XI. Samson will certainly feature in the Indian playing eleven for the Super-4 match against Pakistan. The reference to a ’12th player’ signifies his potential to join the elite list of Indian cricketers who have amassed over 1000 runs in T20 Internationals. Currently, eleven Indian players have achieved this feat, and Samson could be the twelfth.
Before the highly anticipated match against Pakistan, let’s examine the top 11 Indian players and their respective T20 International run tallies. At the pinnacle of this list is Rohit Sharma, with a remarkable 4231 runs in T20Is. Virat Kohli closely follows with 4188 runs. Both these stalwarts have retired from T20I cricket.
India’s current T20I captain, Suryakumar Yadav, has accumulated 2652 runs and holds the third position. KL Rahul with 2265 runs secures the fourth spot. Hardik Pandya occupies the fifth position among the top 11 players, boasting 1813 runs. Shikhar Dhawan has scored 1759 runs and MS Dhoni has 1617 runs. Suresh Raina with 1605 runs is placed 8th. Rishabh Pant is at number 9 with 1209 runs. Yuvraj Singh with 1177 runs, and Shreyas Iyer with 1104 runs, occupy the 10th and 11th positions respectively.
Sanju Samson has the opportunity to be the 12th player to enter this esteemed list of Indian players. However, to do so, he must score 83 runs in the upcoming Super-4 match against Pakistan. Samson has amassed 917 runs in 39 innings from his 45 T20I appearances. If he achieves this milestone in the Super-4 encounter against Pakistan, it would be a significant achievement. If not, he will still have the opportunity during the Asia Cup 2025.