Why Did Suryakumar Yadav Withdraw Appeal Against Junaid Siddique? Explaining the Timeline

Captain Suryakumar Yadav won hearts in India's first game of 2025 Asia Cup.

Why Did Suryakumar Yadav Withdraw Appeal Against Junaid Siddique? Explaining the Timeline

Suryakumar Yadav and Junaid Siddique (via News18)

The first match for India at the Asia Cup hardly had talking points as India wrapped up the match in just a total of 106 balls. The world champions bowled the host nation United Arab Emirates for just a meagre 57.

The openers, then came out all guns blazing and with just one wicket falling, India comfortably chased down the total in 4.3 overs. However, in the 106 balls that took place in the entire match, there was one delivery in the UAE innings that did get many fans confused.

UAE were reeling at 54-7. Shivam Dube bowled a bouncer to UAE batter Junaid Siddique. The batter stepped aside to play a pull shot but missed. As he missed, he immediately pointed towards the bowler suggesting that something disturbed him while he was about to execute the shot.

As it turned out, Dube’s napkin that he had at the back of his pants fell while he was running in, disturbing the vision of the batter. To add to the drama though, wicket keeper Sanju Samson who collected the bouncer, threw it at the striker’s end stumps to run Siddique out.

Siddique who was suggesting that he got disturbed by the handkerchief, forgot to ground his bat in time and was standing outside the crease while making a statement. Samson sensed an opportunity and aimed at the stumps. The decision went to the third umpire who then declared it as out.

However, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav stepped in to say that his team would like to withdraw the appeal. He believed that the batter was distracted by the handkerchief and running him out in that time would be unfair. Yadav received a lot of praise for this gesture on social media, and the UAE batter Siddique too was grateful.

Sanju Samson may have to adapt to a new role if he has to save his spot in the side

Captain Suryakumar Yadav and coach Gautam Gambhir seem to have changed Sanju Samson’s role in the side. With newly-appointed vice captain Shubman Gill back in the T20 side, Samson had to sacrifice his opening spot.

Gill opened with Abhishek Sharma in the first match of the Asia Cup for India. Both openers had a great first outing. Sharma scored a quickfire 30 off 16 balls before getting dismissed. His partner Gill scored a quick 20 off 9 balls and remained not out. Many expected Samson to come out at number 3, but with the arrival of Suryakumar Yadav at three it seems that Samson may have to make number 5 or 6 – his seemingly new batting position.

Sanju Samson and Shubman Gill batting together.
Sanju Samson and Shubman Gill (via Cricket Addictor)

It is very evident that India doesn’t want to disturb number 3 and 4 which are currently held by Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma respectively. They would want Samson to play a late middle order or finisher role from now on, something which the man from Kerala hasn’t done much in his cricketing career.

Even in IPL cricket, Samson has had his best years batting at the top of the order. The longevity of this new strategy would also depend on the success that the new openers have together. They have started off well, but UAE didn’t pose a very difficult challenge anyways.

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