Sanju Samson ‘no small name’, Gambhir urged to stick with him ahead of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi: ‘Difficult conundrum’

The Indian team management urged to stick with Sanju Samson for the series against Afghanistan.

The conundrum is big for head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Shreyas Iyer ahead of the first T20I against Afghanistan on Sunday. Sanju Samson, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma are all in the squad, and it would be interesting to see which two are selected as openers for the series curtain-raiser at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. The 15-year-old Sooryavanshi was recently named Player of the Series in the three-match contest against Zimbabwe for his haul of more than 200 runs.

The Indian team management urged to stick with Sanju Samson for the series against Afghanistan. (Action Images via Reuters)

Sooryavanshi and Abhishek opened the batting as Samson was given rest for the tour of Zimbabwe. The tour of the UK before Zimbabwe created a lot of stir after the team management played around with the confidence of both Samson and Sooryavanshi.

Samson played three matches on the tour, two against Ireland and one against England, and three low scores were all it took for him to be dropped and Sooryavanshi to come into the playing XI. However, when the left-hander failed to get going, he too was dropped, and the T20 Player of the Tournament made his way back into the lineup for the fifth match against the Three Lions.

However, with Samson being rested for the Zimbabwe tour, the task became easy for the coaches as Abhishek and Sooryavanshi opened the batting. However, the more experienced batter Abhishek had an underwhelming tour; hence, the management's task is now cut out in choosing who to pick.

What did Vivek Razdan say?

Ahead of the first T20I, former India pacer Vivek Razdan said that the management, led by Gambhir and Iyer, should back Samson, given his stature and the role he played in helping the Men in Blue win the T20 World Cup earlier this year.

“The problem is that Sooryavanshi has become such a huge name on social media. The conversation is always about him due to his performances in the IPL. But I think we need to be patient. We are talking about Samson. You cannot touch Ishan Kishan and Abhishek. So the choice is between Samson and Sooryavanshi. Samson is one player who helped you win the T20 World Cup just a few months back,” said Razdan while replying to a Hindustan Times Digital query.

“He was the Player of the Tournament; he scored 300 runs at a strike rate of almost 200. It is a difficult conundrum. He was dropped after he failed to set the stage on fire in the UK tour, but Sooryavanshi too had a below-par outing. So, better sense would dictate that Samson is called into the lineup. There are several left-handers in the lineup; only Shreyas is a right-hander. Samson is no small name, but I think we need to stick with him for the first T20I against Afghanistan,” he added.

Watch India tour of Afghanistan 2026 - Afghanistan vs India - 1st T20 on September 13, 2026, from 7:30 PM IST live on Sony Sports Ten 5 SD & HD.