I don’t want to rest: R Ashwin’s hilarious Sanju Samson facial expression has gone viral
It began as brilliant improvisational comedy on a YouTube screen, but quickly evolved into one of the most damning structural critiques of Indian cricket’s selection policy in recent memory.
In a recent appearance on his YouTube show, veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin decided to reach out the much-discussed omission of Sanju Samson from India’s T20I squad to tour Zimbabwe by transforming into an actor. Engaging in a mock roleplay where journalist Vimal Kumar played the selector and Ashwin played the desperate, rest-rejecting Samson, the exchange was pure internet gold:
Vimal (as voter): “You’ve done exceptionally well, we’re so proud of you. But you also know when we started.”
Ashwin (as Sanju): “I don’t want any rest. I will bring my mother, father and wife with me to Zimbabwe if I want. I want to play there. I have never been to Bulawayo. They are a proud cricketing nation. I saw Zimbabwe beat India in the World Cup in 1999. I want revenge. Please take me there, I don’t want to rest.”
COMEDY INTO A COLD REALITY
While the internet laughed at Ashwin’s impeccable comic timing and Samson’s fictional 1999 World Cup revenge plot, the ground reality for the Kerala wicketkeeper-batsman is far from funny.
Just weeks ago, Samson stood on top of the world Player of the tournament in India’s triumphant T20 World Cup campaignwho delivered three crucial knocks, including the winning innings in both the semi-finals and the final. Yet after a brief three-match slump across Ireland and England, where he managed just six runs, the ax fell with astonishing speed. Dropped for the second T20I in England, Samson was ruled out of the Zimbabwe tour altogether.
On closer inspection, the team selection becomes even more interesting. While top bowlers like Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel were given a legitimate rest, Samson was the only star batsman from the top six to be ‘rested’. Peers like Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer and fast-rising 15-year-old phenom Vaibhav Sooryavanshi all kept their places, while Prabsimran Singh was brought in to fill the gap in the wicket. There are whispers on social media that Samson has been sidelined to make way for Sooryavanshi’s meteoric rise.
UNCERTAINTY IN THE TEAM?
Once the laughter from the skit died down, Ashwin pulled no punches and issued a deadly serious warning about how this ruthless chopping and changing is breeding a toxic culture of survival in the national dressing room.
“Who’s next?” Ashwin asked bluntly.
“After those two losses in Ireland and the loss of form, they forced Sanju Samson to sit out. Now we’ve lost two in England. So who’s next? That’s really bad. I really hope Indian cricketers don’t find themselves in a precarious place. I was talking about Suryakumar Yadav earlier (dropping him from the team). Players start thinking more about the team than the team, Insular, Insular. It’s disastrous if the batsmen start thinking that if I don’t score, I might be on the bench, they will start playing for their places.
Ashwin warned that when a player realizes that the team management will not protect him with a short slump, the team’s collective ethos breaks down.
“Imagine this situation. Let’s say Sanju Samson gets another chance. Maybe he’ll start thinking for himself. And you can’t even say it’s wrong. I really hope they find a way around it.”
LONG ROPE JUST FOR A FEW?
Earlier this week, head coach Gautam Gambhir addressed the debate over Sanju Samson’s ouster and hinted that the wicketkeeper was dropped because of his form.
“As far as Sanju is concerned, we are very clear what he has done for India has been phenomenal and sometimes you just have to look at the form of a certain player. There is no hard and fast rule that he cannot come back in this series,” Gambhir said.
Ashwin is clearly irked by the glaring asymmetries in the selectors’ treatment of different players. He starkly recalled the grandiose rhetoric used by head coach Gautam Gambhir a few weeks ago about Test players under fire.
“What was said when the team management talked about giving Sai Sudharsan a long rope in Tests? They said ‘you can’t judge a player in four matches’. Not even a month has passed since that was said. Amazing. But where has Sanju Samson fallen? Yes, you can’t treat all players the same way. But at least you can give him two more chances if you hope.”
Ashwin finally dismantled the very vocabulary used by selectors and team management to justify these omissions, pointing out the absurdity of giving “rest” to an athlete who plays only one format for his country.
“What is the meaning of rest? It is not a written rule that you have to give opportunities on these tours. What is Sanju Samson playing? He only plays T20Is, not Tests and ODis. What is the point of giving him rest? After the Zimbabwe tour, he can rest. He has a very nice place in Trivandrum. Why will he rest? Why will he rest? Is he just playing? He will want to rest for T20s. but that’s the way it is.”
– The end
Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
09 Jul 2026 12:50 IST