Sanju Samson vs Suryakumar Yadav for Asia Cup and World Cup is a no-brainer. Rohit, Dravid know it…

Less than 20 days to go for the Asia Cup and about one and a half months for the ODI World Cup, captain Rohit Sharma said no one is guaranteed a spot in the Indian side. He is kind of correct. Holding on to your place in the current Indian team is perhaps one of the hardest jobs at the moment. Thanks to multiple series, different formats, and workload management, breaking into the Indian team or for that matter, getting an India cap is not as difficult as it used to be about five years ago but holding on to it and making sure you wore it every time is the tougher task… way tougher.

Ask KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer. They were one of India's most consistent ODI performers before getting stung by injuries. After a long layoff, as they slowly try to get their spots back in the side, it is far from being guaranteed. Rohit hinted that both Rahul and Iyer are likely to get direct entry into India's squad if they are fit but considering the long time away from cricket, the team management would keep the back-ups ready. "Shreyas and KL are coming off not having played anything for four months, big injuries. I had to undergo surgery once and know how it feels afterwards. We have to see how they respond, what they do. The selection (meeting) will be there in a few days, we will have a good debate about what we can do. But honestly, nobody is an automatic choice," said the skipper.

Barring Rohit himself, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah (when fit) and Mohammed Shami, there are hardly any other cricketers who can claim to be a certainty in India's ODI XI. We have Mohammed Siraj, who could potentially give Shami tough competition, and Axar Patel closely challenging Jadeja. But that pretty much sums it up.

Sanju Samson vs Suryakumar Yadav for Asia Cup and World Cup

As things stand, Rahul seems to be in considerably better physical condition. Consequently, if Iyer isn't able to participate, who else could India consider as potential alternative? Furthermore, even if Iyer does make the cut, there remains an additional opening for a batsman within the 15-player squad. The battle is set to come down between Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav. If you browse through social media, it appears to be neck-and-neck. Samson's followers don't need a second invitation, while SKY's fandom too has gone through the roof after his exploits in T20s.

But the selection is not based on social media followers. If we take our minds away from the hullabaloo of the virtual world, it won't be hard to understand that Samson vs SKY is actually a no-brainer. If it indeed comes down to either Samson or SKY, Surya should (read would) get the nod seven days a week, twice on Sunday. And before all the social media warriors trail arms, the question is not about talent, it never was. It's about what they have done with it at the highest level. And like it or not, Surya is winning that battle hands down.

Yes, this is despite his average record in ODIs - an average of 24.3 after 26 matches. SKY himself admitted that his ODI returns have been disappointing. While his inability to crack the ODI code despite being a world-beater in T20Is will continue to be a topic of discussion, it does not take away the fact that he should get as many chances as possible. Why not Samson, who has scored 390 runs in 12 ODI innings at an excellent average of 55.71 scored at a strike rate of 104.00, you ask?

Here's the answer...

Why SKY will win the race

Samson's swelled-up average is largely due to his not-out knocks - five of them in 12 innings. And out of those five, it was only his 86-run knock against South Africa in Lucknow – nearly winning the game for India – which he really left an impact on. The rest are 6*, 43*, 30* and 2*; with hardly any impact. Take out that 86 against South Africa and a couple of half-centuries he scored against the West Indies, there is not much to talk about. Make no mistake, these are great numbers for someone who has not got regular chances and has generally batted below No.5, but in order to warrant a claim in India's World Cup side and especially to beat someone like SKY to it, Samson needs to do a lot more.

Surya has an average of 45.6 and a strike rate of 174.3 in 49 T20I innings, a combination unmatchable in world cricket. He has 17 fifty-plus scores (14 half-centuries and three centuries), 14 of which have come in a winning cause. Suryakumar Yadav's average and strike rate goes up further in matches that India have won. In fact, when SKY plays well, India's performances go up a notch in T20Is. That is the kind of reputation he has built for himself. Take the recent T20I against West Indies in Guyana as an example. Till the time Surya wasn't scoring, India were looking like an ordinary T20I side but the moment he was at his elementary best, things changed. SKY smashed a 44-ball 83 in the third T20I to help India stay alive in the five-match series.

It needs no rocket scientist to figure out that Surya should get more opportunities to translate the same in ODIs. The formats are different and therefore, the Indian team management has to ensure they make the correct and best use of SKY as he is someone who has smashed centuries in England, New Zealand and scored a blistering fifty in perhaps the most challenging pitch of last year's T20 World Cup.

Therefore, if it comes down to Samson vs SKY for one Asia Cup and World Cup spot, it will always be a no-brainer. Surya all the way… irrespective of what the social media says.