Samson was being preferred over Rishabh Pant in the playing XI by many former cricketers before the T20 WC due to his IPL 2024 heroics. While Pant also had a good run in this year's IPL, many pitted Samson over Pant due to his effortless striking. However, Bhajji explained why Samson has not been preferred in the India XI. Harbhajan began by lauding Hardik Pandya's bowling effort as the all-rounder has claimed seven scalps in three games (most by an Indian so far). "The biggest positive is that Hardik Pandya took the wicket. He was the fourth bowler in this tournament. But if you look at his wicket tally, he has done much better than what was expected of him," the veteran told Star Sports. He then shifted his focus on Samson's ouster and added, "Along with him, Rishabh Pant played at number 3. His role was completely changed. Before this World Cup, we were saying that Sanju Samson will play in the team because he has made big runs. To make Rishabh Pant play at number three is a big positive. Left-Right combination is formed when Rishabh Pant plays at number three."   It will be interesting to see if Rohit Sharma-led India will opt for Samson or not, at the expense of underperfoming Shivam Dube. The Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain has featured in 25 T20Is, scoring 374 runs at a strike-rate of 133.09. INDIA's SUPER 8 FIXTURES 20 June: Afghanistan v India, Bridgetown, Barbados (8 PM IST) 22 June: India v Bangladesh, North Sound, Antigua (8 PM IST) 24 June: Australia v India, Gros Islet, St Lucia (8 PM IST)