Inside Coach Gambhir’s chat with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi about his T20I selection

Gautam Gambhir explained to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi why the 15-year-old will have to wait for his opportunity in India’s T20I squad despite being in good form and proving himself at the Asian Games.

India will take over West Indies in the five-match T20I series at home from October 6-17, with a three-way race for opening spots being one of the key points of selection.

Vaibhav was not selected for any of India’s three T20Is against Afghanistan at home, with the team opting to continue with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma at the top. Gambhir said he spoke to the youngster personally and explained to him why India were not ready to break the combination that had led for a long time.

“It was also a new experience for me. Yes, he was in good form, but I made him understand that because of players who have been doing well for a long time, he will have to wait for his opportunity,” Gambhir told Follow the Blues JioStar.

Subsequently Vaibhav took advantage of his opportunity at the Asian Gameswhere India was coached by VVS Laxman. He smashed 38 off 21 balls in the semi-final against Sri Lanka before making a quickfire 15 and hitting two sixes in the gold medal clash against Pakistan.

Samson, in comparison, took 7 off 9 against Sri Lanka and 2 off 4 in the final. Abhishek scored only seven in the semi-final but responded with a match-winning 61 off 28 against Pakistan.

Vaibhav’s performances have therefore strengthened his case, but Gambhir is unwilling to view the young player’s current form in isolation.

“If Vaibhav plays today, then it will be a tough conversation between me and whoever we leave out, be it Abhishek or Sanju,” Gambhir said. “So we can’t suddenly ignore a combination that has made such an impact over the last year and a half or two and after three or four setbacks drop them and play a young player who is very talented who is also in very good form.”

SOCIAL MEDIA CANNOT DECIDE TO PLAY XI

The head coach also made it clear that the selection will not be dictated by the buzz surrounding the team, especially on social media.

“Social media or outside noise doesn’t decide the playing XI,” he said.

“It depends on who in that dressing room or who the coach and the captain feel can win us the game or what is the best playing XI and who has been doing so well for so long.”

For Gambhir, the decision is also about creating a sense of security in the team. India’s opening combination of Abhishek and Samson were part of the team that won the T20 World Cup in 2026, and he doesn’t believe a couple of bad outings should automatically force a change.

“It’s very easy for me to take popular decisions, but probably the hardest thing for me is to make the right decisions,” Gambhir said. “And we made the right decision to continue with Sanju and Abhishek.

“No team in the history of the sport has gone from one World Cup to another undefeated and won the World Cup again. All of a sudden one bad run or three bad games here and there doesn’t make them a bad player or us a bad side. So it was very important for us to have that continuity.”

Last month, Gambhir made it clear that dropping Sanju Samson during India’s tour of England was one of the toughest calls he took. Sooryavanshi got his T20I debut in England when Samson gave way to the teenager after a run of just three low scores that came right after his T20 World Cup victories. Samson himself admitted that he was able to understand why the team management took the call, citing Sooryavanshi’s record-breaking IPL campaign.

Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma are likely to line up for India against West Indies in the first T20I to be played at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Tuesday.

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