India will begin their three-match T20I series against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday. The top-order combination will be a major talking point, with Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson and 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi all in contention to open. Razdan has backed Iyer to retain his No.4 position while making a strong case for Samson at the top of the order. He believes performance should matter more than maintaining a left-right combination.

Vivek Razdan backs Sanju Samson to open for India

Razdan feels Iyer should not change his batting position despite the number of options available at the top. He also rejected the idea of selecting a batter simply to maintain a right-left combination. Razdan then backed Samson to open, pointing to his recent T20 form.

“I think Shreyas should not change his number at the moment. He should remain at number 4. Because for the top 3, you already have four names. You have Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, and Ishaan Kishan, but all three are left-handers. You have a player who, just a few months ago, made more than 300 runs with a strike rate of 200 and won us the World Cup. So, he is a very good player,” Razdan said.

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Vaibhav Suryavanshi faces selection battle

Suryavanshi recently made his international debut in England and has emerged as one of the biggest talking points ahead of the series. However, the competition for the opening spots remains intense. The first T20I will also mark Iyer’s first home series as India’s captain. Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy have returned after injury layoffs.

“So, I feel that while going into the first match, you should still play with Sanju Samson,” he said.

Razdan acknowledged the importance of the left-right combination but still preferred Samson at the top. Afghanistan, led by Ibrahim Zadran, will be searching for their first T20I win over India. The teams have met nine times, with India winning eight matches and one ending without a result.

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