Former Indian batter Robin Uthappa believes Sanju Samson could feel like he has been hard done by, after producing incredible results as a T20I opener in Shubman Gill's absence. Following India's 2024 T20 World Cup triumph, Samson opened the batting with Abhishek Sharma in T20Is with tremendous success.The Kerala batter scored three centuries in eight T20I innings as an opener last year. However, after a poor home series against England at the start of the 2025 season, Gill has opened for India in T20Is, replacing Samson.The latter batted in the middle-order at various positions in the Asia Cup and the start of the Australian series before being excluded from the 11 in the side's recent few games.Talking about Gill replacing Samson as India's T20I opener, Uthappa said on his YouTube channel (46:26):"Surya said Gill opened the batting before Sanju Samson got the opportunity to open. But once you have him the opportunity, he has got three hundreds in that and has done really well. He's averaging the second or third highest after Abhishek Sharma. He must be thinking what wrong have I done to not find a spot? Is that communication alive with Sanju Samson, where they've said, 'We are going to try Shubman out for a few games, if it doesn't work out, you jump straight back in'."Uthappa also believes Gill is not batting to his strength since his return to the Indian T20I side, resulting in a string of low scores."He's batting completely opposite to what actually works for him and what actually gives him success. He's the kind of T20 batter who gets in a little bit. He's not a Sanju Samson or Abhishek Sharma type of opening batter. He's the kind of guy who gets in, and once he gets in, you can't get him out," said Uthappa."But he has to go through that passage of batting those first ten balls and scoring a run-a-ball or striking at 120 and up the ante after that. Because once he bats those first 15-18 balls, it's almost impossible to get Shubman Gill out. So he's doing something that's counterintuitive to his batting right now," he added.Gill has averaged a sub-par 26.30 with no half-centuries in 13 T20Is as India's opener this year."You want to figure out what works best leading into a World Cup" - Robin UthappaRobin Uthappa urged Team India to figure out Abhishek Sharma's ideal opening partner between Samson and Gill before the 2026 T20 World Cup. The Men in Blue will enter the tournament as heavy favorites, having won the title in 2024 without losing a single game."You want to figure out what works best leading into a World Cup because the Sanju-Ahhishek pair was working. It was a pair that complemented each other and brought the middle order into the game, whether it worked or not. For example, it was on the back of Sanju's hundreds that Tilak came in and scored his hundreds in South Africa. So that was a working piece that was changed, albeit to accommodate Shubman Gill," said Uthappa (via the aforementioned source).He concluded:"It's not like he (Gill) doesn't deserve to be there. But should be playing like Sanju Samson or Abhishek Sharma? Absolutely not. He should be playing like himself and with what actually works for him. Let him play the way he plays and scores runs. If you want him to play in a certain way, there is a guy in the dressing room who's playing that way (Samson), let that guy go and do the job."With Sanju Samson struggling in the middle-order, India have played Jitesh Sharma as the wicket-keeper in their last four T20Is.