Decoding the selection call that ended Sanju Samson’s T20 World Cup on a high – and the road ahead

Sanju Samson of India (ANI Photo) First captain Suryakumar Yadav and now player of the tournament Sanju Samson. Almost four months after winning the T20 World Cup, India decided to move on two key figures from the squad that defended the title at home. While Ajit Agarkar, chairman of the men’s senior selection committee, held a press conference explaining the move regarding SKY, much was left to imagination and interpretation when Samson was dropped from the Shreyas Iyer-led squad for Zimbabwe.It wasn’t long ago that Samson was the toast of the nation for his shocks at the business end of a multi-nation tournament, but the selectors were wary of the inconsistency on either side of those outings. The opener only made the World Cup XI as the top left-hander struggled with off-spin. He repaid the faith, but the frustrating pattern of inconsistency returned in the IPL and subsequent international programs as well. Add to that a red-hot Vaibhav Sooryavanshi who makes life miserable for the decision-makers. Samson was the initial choice of the coaching set-up and received support in press conferences, but other key stakeholders in Indian cricket were unwilling to keep Sooryavanshi waiting in the wings. The argument was simple: “How can you get him to carry a drink? The whole ‘he’ll learn’ argument sounds so childish right now. You don’t make him learn by carrying towels and drinks. You throw him in the deep end to swim when he’s riding on confidence,” explains a well-placed source.Someone had to make way and the options were Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Samson. While the southpaws managed to stay between the runs, consistency was never Samson’s friend. Whether it sends the right message to the team and the players is up for a separate discussion, but the move was purely aimed at giving Sooryavanshi the rope he has earned, even if it comes at the cost of breaking it for someone else. Prabhsimran Singh’s first international call sends another message. Even if Kishan, Sharma or Sooryavanshi have failures or inconsistent outings, Prabhsimran is ready to grab his chance and it could be quite a tough road back for the experienced Samson. While he wasn’t the only player missing from the team playing in England, he is the only player from one format left out. Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel also missed out. Initially, there were proposals to send a second string team to Zimbabwe under a new captain, but this did not translate into anything meaningful.

Gambhir and Co will go. to Zimbabwe?

There are whispers that the regular support staff could miss out on the Zimbabwe tour. While TimesofIndia.com could not confirm, there have been discussions as the turnaround time between the ODI against England and the Zimbabwe series is very short. It remains to be seen whether Gambhir-led support staff will be on the flight or whether the Indian cricket board will send coaches from the CoE panel.

Asian Games lineup changes

India announced its squad for the Asian Games last month, but TimesofIndia.com can confirm that there may be some last-minute changes. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to approach the relevant authorities if it has not already done so. The rules allow them to, and exceptions can be made to accommodate a player who is not part of the original long list.

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Share an opinionIndia Squad for Asian Games 2026: Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (VC), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Svanshi, Arshdeory Rana.