‘Wapis nahi aane dega’: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s form sparks fresh debate over Sanju Samson’s return to India

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Sanju Samson NEW DELHI: Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan suggests that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s impressive performances could make it difficult for anyone, including Sanju Samson, to regain his place in India’s T20I side. The young batsman continued his fine form with a composed 81 innings in the third and final T20I against Zimbabwe on July 26, where he showed both maturity and power on a challenging pitch in Harare. He played some eye-catching knocks, including a direct drive on a yorker from Brad Evans and a massive 102-metre six against Sikandar Raza. Praising the youngster, Pathan wrote, “Jiski vhi jagah lega ye bachha uses aane dega script…How special is this Vaibhav Suryavanshi??” (Whoever this kid captures, he won’t let him go back. How special is this Vaibhav Suryavanshi?)His comments added to the debate over whether Sooryavanshi had moved ahead of Samson in India’s T20 plans.Samson started as India’s first opener during the Ireland T20Is but only managed low scores which led to Sooryavanshi getting opportunities in the England series. Although the youngster failed to produce big knocks consistently in this series and Samson returned for the fifth T20I, not a single change helped India avoid the fade.

A selection battle awaits us

Samson was then dropped from the Zimbabwe T20I series, while Sooryavanshi grabbed his chance with another impressive innings. With India’s next T20 assignment being the Asian Games, the competition for a spot between Samson and Sooryavanshi is expected to remain a major talking point.At the same time, Abhishek Sharma’s place at the top came under scrutiny after a poor score. The opener managed just 2, 8, 1, 3, 16 and 10 in his last six T20I innings, raising fresh questions about India’s preferred opening combination.