Sanju Samson Excluded from India Squad for Zimbabwe Series

India's Sanju Samson (ANI Photo)

First, Captain Suryakumar Yadav, and now Player of the Tournament Sanju Samson. Almost four months after winning the T20 World Cup, India have decided to move on from two key figures of the squad that defended the title at home. While Ajit Agarkar, chairman of the men's senior selection committee, held a press conference explaining the move regarding SKY, much was left to the imagination and interpretation when Samson was excluded from the Shreyas Iyer-led squad for Zimbabwe.

Not long ago, Samson was the toast of the nation for his knocks in the business end of the multi-nation tournament but the selectors have been wary of the inconsistency on either side of those outings. The opener only made the World Cup XI because the left-handed top-order struggled against off-spin. He repaid the faith, but the frustrating pattern of inconsistency returned even in the IPL and subsequent international fixtures.

Add to this a red-hot Vaibhav Sooryavanshi making life uncomfortable for the decision-makers. Samson was the coaching set-up's original choice and received backing in the press conferences, but the other crucial stakeholders in Indian cricket were not willing to make Sooryavanshi wait in the wings. The argument was simple: "How can you make him carry drinks? The whole argument of 'he will learn' sounds so kiddish right now. You don't make him learn by carrying towels and drinks. You throw him in the deep end to swim when he is riding high on confidence," explains a well-placed source.

Someone had to make way, and the options were Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan , and Samson. While the southpaws have managed to stay amongst the runs, consistency has never been Samson's friend. Whether this sends the right message to the team and players is a separate discussion, but this move was purely aimed at giving Sooryavanshi the rope he has earned, even if it comes at the cost of snapping it for someone else.

Prabhsimran Singh's maiden international call-up sends another message. Even if Kishan, Sharma, or Sooryavanshi have failures or inconsistent outings, Prabhsimran is ready to grab his chance, and it could well be a tough road back for the experienced Samson. While he hasn't been the only player missing from the squad playing in England, he is the only one-format player left out. Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel have also missed the cut.

Initially, there were suggestions to send a second-string side to Zimbabwe, under a new captain, but this did not translate into anything meaningful.

Will Gambhir and Co. travel to Zimbabwe?

There are murmurs that the regular support staff might skip the Zimbabwe tour. While TimesofIndia.com couldn't confirm, discussions have occurred because the turnaround time between the ODIs against England and the Zimbabwe series is very less. It remains to be seen whether the Gambhir-led support staff boards the flight or if the Indian cricket board sends coaches from the CoE panel.

Changes in the Asian Games squad

India announced their squad for the Asian Games last month, but TimesofIndia.com can confirm that there could be some last-minute changes. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to approach the relevant authorities with the request, if it has not already done so. The rules permit them to do so, and exceptions can be made to even accommodate a player not part of the initial long list.India squad for the 2026 Asian Games: Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (VC), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi