In a rather shocking turn of events, Sanju Samson – the player of the tournament at the T20 World Cup 2026 – has been dropped from India’s T20I team for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour. The wicketkeeper-batter was recently left out for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after failures in three matches against Ireland and England.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the team with seven changes from the ongoing tour, with Samson being the biggest omission. Most of the players were rested, and reports have suggested that the selectors didn’t want Samson to warm the bench, with Prabhsimran Singh coming in for him.
Agarkar’s job dependent on Samson
However, not everyone is sold. Sadagoppan Ramesh has questioned Ajit Agarkar for leaving the 31-year-old out. The former India opener stated that the Chairman of Selectors only received an extension on his contract because India managed to lift the T20 World Cup. We can’t forget that Samson was the standout performer in the last three matches with the scores of 97*, 89 and 89. But Ramesh believes Agarkar has.
“The Agarkar, who dropped Samson, is in an extension period himself. His contract was to end in June, but the T20 World Cup triumph helped extend his time. And it was Sanju who played a major role in that victory. So Sanju Samson is the reason Agarkar is even a selector in this extended period now. It is extremely harsh treatment to drop someone three matches after he was the Player of the Tournament in a World Cup,” Ramesh said on his YouTube channel.
Unfair treatment
Samson had played ‘selfless knocks’. In fact, head coach Gautam Gambhir had failed the keeper-batter for keeping the team ahead of personal milestones. Therefore, he deserved backing. But the exact opposite happened. Ramesh backed his claim by stating that it wasn’t just Samson who underperformed against Ireland but the entire team.
Captain Shreyas Iyer had similar returns. Only Shivam Dube was consistent in both games. One can’t forget that Sooryavanshi had earned a spot, but just 3 matches before, Samson was the best player in the team. Yes, Prabhsimran has been great for Punjab Kings and in domestic cricket, but the claim that Samson doesn’t deserve to stay on the bench doesn’t make sense.
“In the semifinal and final, he had the opportunity to complete his century. But without thinking selfishly for personal milestones, he played for the team and got out. Such team players should be the first ones backed. How can a player of the tournament in a World Cup be dropped from the squad after three failures? Out of those three innings, the entire team failed in two of them in Ireland. It looks like those who took these three innings forgot about his previous three innings that won India the World Cup,” he added.
India squad for Zimbabwe T20I series
Shreyas Iyer (c), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma (vc), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Rinku Singh, Harsh Dubey, Varun Chakaravarathy, Prince Yadav, Yash Thakur, Ashok Sharma, Mayank Yadav, Prabhsimran Singh (wk)
