Gautam Gambhir Makes Stunning Confession On Dropping Sanju Samson In England

Gautam Gambhir came up with an honest revelation regarding Sanju Samson.© AFP

Sanju Samson is back in his groove with two consecutive half-centuries. The wicketkeeper-batter was preferred to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for the recently concluded Afghanistan T20I series, and he repaid the trust shown by the team management with scores of 57 and 50. As India clean-swept Afghanistan 3-0 in the series, head coach Gautam Gambhir came up with an honest revelation. He said that dropping Samson during the England tour earlier this year was the "toughest decision" he has taken in his coaching tenure.

It is worth noting that India dropped Samson after the first T20I of the five-match series in England. He was replaced by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. As the teenager scored 14, 13 and 15 in three matches, he was left out for the final game, with Samson returning to the playing XI.

"First of all, he doesn't need to give me any credit (for proper communication when he wasn't playing). His talent itself is enough for him to be in the dressing room. He's shown what he's capable of. Someone doesn't become a player of the tournament in a World Cup without having the talent. So he's done enough," Gambhir said in Samson's praise.

"Obviously, it was tough (dropping Samson). Probably the toughest decision I've taken in my coaching tenure was leaving him out in that England series, because obviously, the way he's performed before that. But again, sometimes you go with players' form as well," said the former India batter.

Gambhir made it clear that Sooryavanshi will have to wait for his next opportunity.

"In this series, we were always very clear that we wanted to go back to the combination that we had during the World Cup, because those guys, after three or four failures, do not become bad players.

"And the kind of cricket we've played - if a team that has gone unbeaten from one World Cup to the other and has won the World Cup - suddenly, it doesn't become a bad team after one or two series. These guys do not become bad players after two or three failures. That is what we said.

"From Vaibhav's point of view, it was again a very clear conversation that he has to wait for his opportunity. We know the kind of talent he has. We know what he can do."

Featured Video Of The Day

CWG 2026 Weightlifting Gold Medallist, Mirabai Chanu Get Hero's Welcome in Delhi