Sanju Samson’s India career has always felt complicated. He’s never been a regular, but he has one of the most passionate fan followings in the country. Leave him out and social media goes mad. Pick him and suddenly everyone expects fireworks. At Trent Bridge on Tuesday night, you could feel it. The emotions were carried out to the streets too.
As Gautam Gambhir, Tilak Varma and other members of the Indian contingent made their way towards the team bus following a crushing 125-run defeat to England, a group of supporters repeatedly shouted, “We want Sanju.” The Indian team is used to hearing loud chants wherever they go, but it is hard to ignore sometimes.
The team was leaving the stadium after a horrible day on the field. Gambhir already talked about the what went wrong in the game. The batting looked disjointed, the bowling was punished and the series now has certainly slipped away. India can’t with the series now, as they reel behind 2-0 with just two games to go.
The Sanju Samson debate
The Indian team put themselves in the crosshairs after dropping Samson after three failures. Samson’s relationship with Indian cricket has always been complicated. There have been periods where he looked like the future of India’s white-ball batting, only for opportunities to dry up. There have been phases where he was backed heavily and couldn’t grab the spot. Both things can be true at the same time.
However, this time, he has been replaced by none other than Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. He is not just another youngster being tried out. He is arguably the hottest batting property in world cricket right now. The 15-year-old smashed 776 runs in IPL 2026, won the Orange Cap, collected the MVP award and then continued his astonishing form in India A colours, including a record-breaking 11-ball fifty in Sri Lanka.
From the management’s perspective, the decision made cricketing sense. Samson had scores of 0, 5 and 1 across the Ireland and England games. Sooryavanshi, meanwhile, was kicking down the door. Gambhir later confirmed that Samson’s omission was purely form-related and that the player had been given complete clarity regarding the decision.
Samson remains one of the most loved cricketers in the country, largely because fans feel they have watched him fight for every opportunity he has received. His T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, where he played match-winning knocks of 97*, 89 and 89 in the knockouts and finished as Player of the Tournament, was heartening to see. Now, Samson isn’t part of the Zimbabwe series as well, while Abhishek Sharma and Sooryavanshi are there. All these signs simply leave Samson fans with a bitter taste in their mouth.
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