Shubman Gill's return as an opener in the T20I side along with Abhishek Sharma has potentially shut the door on Sanju Samson, who had three centuries in his last 10 matches at the top of the order.
There is talk that Jitesh Sharma could be more effective as a finisher lower down the order, thus making him the preferred choice as the wicketkeeper. Jitesh excelled in the role for RCB which paved the way for the maiden title in the IPL.
Ajit Agarkar, chairman of selection committee, dropped a subtle hint which meant Gill was certain to open.
"Sanju (Samson) opened because Jaiswal and Gill were unavailable. Gill and Sanju, two very good opening options to have alongside Abhishek Sharma. Captain and coach will take the call after reaching Dubai," Agarkar said at Tuesday's news conference.
Sunil Gavaskar, however, feels that Samson and Gill can co-exist in the playing XI, with the former taking up a middle-order role in the team.
"He can still be in the team as somebody batting down the order. He can bat at 5 or 6. He shouldn't be left out, after all he's the wicket-keeper. Sanju is a very gifted player, he can adapt," said Gavaskar on Aaj Tak. "He is used to batting down the order, we shouldn't be too worried about him, he's a class act.
"Your first choice XI and your batting order will depend on a lot of things, like what the pitch is like, who the opposition is, what their bowling attack is. The two certainties would be Abhishek and Shubman Gill, the two Punjab boys opening the batting together, that would be my opening pair. 3 and 4 would be Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav," said Gavaskar.
"Depending on what the score is or what you need, you either put Hardik Pandya a little bit ahead, or Sanju Samson goes in to bat... there is also somebody like Axar Patel who can come in and bat, how well he batted in the final of the T20 World Cup in Barbados. That would be the way to go," said Gavaskar.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir has always shown his liking for Samson and he could still be tried out in the middle order because of his experience in international matches.
Samson has had issues with the short delivery in the past, an aspect pointed out by former India captain Krishnamachari Srikanth. But he seemed to have sorted out the problems and it reflected in his two centuries in South Africa.
The wickets in the UAE for the Asia Cup are expected to be flat and Samson's mastery over such conditions has been well documented. So it should come as no surprise if Gambhir tries him out in the middle-order for the first few matches.
Gavaskar has left out Shivam Dube, Jitesh, Harshit Rana and Rinku Singh from the playing XI.
"As far as the bowling is concerned, I would go with Arshdeep as well as Bumrah to open the bowling, also have Axar and Hardik Pandya as the all-rounders, then Kuldeep and Varun Chakravarthy. Dube, Jitesh, Harshit, and Rinku, it's tough for them but that's what it is."
Since making his T20I debut at 20, Samson’s path has often been challenging. This Asia Cup was seen by many as his chance to establish himself as an opener, but the selectors appear to have different plans.
Samson will again be left at the mercy of the team management. Despite proving his ability to score on all surfaces, the narrative seems to have changed again.