Indian assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has admitted that Indian wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson is still "figuring out" his role in the middle order as India navigate their campaign in the ongoing Asia Cup 2025. Samson showed promise in the group stage with a composed half-century against Oman. However, his momentum did not carry into the Super Four stage, where he struggled to find rhythm against Pakistan's bowling attack, scoring just 13 runs off 17 deliveries. Meanwhile, Ryan ten Doeschate asserted that the management believes in Samson's abilities.

"There's two outings now, two decent chances, and he's still figuring out how to play that role. I think the wicket was a little bit tired in the Pakistan game," ten Doeschate said while speaking to media ahead of India's match against Bangladesh.

"But certainly with the way Shubman [Gill] and Abhi [Abhishek Sharma] are going at the top and you've got your captain batting at three, and the way Tilak's [Verma] played, we're really looking for a No. 5. So we believe Sanju is the best man for that job and we've got no doubt that he'll figure out how to play that role in the future."

Ten Doeschate also stated that it was unlikely to give a chance to Jitesh Sharma and Rinku Singh, as the management wants to move forward with the winning combination. 

"The boys are doing excellent work with training and you probably have to look at bilateral series more realistically as a chance to get guys in to show what they can do and also to give guys a chance to show how flexible they are with their positions."

"But certainly now with the format of this competition, four games, two wins doesn't even guarantee you going through. So it's not like you can take your foot off the pedal at any time and that's been an unfortunate consequence of what we're trying to achieve by trying guys in different positions," he said.