Over the past week, a huge debate has been raging among the Indian cricket team fans and the experts who follow the Men in Blue.
At the center of this debatable topic is the teenage star Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, and now being pushed into it is Sanju Samson, who is now a senior member of the T20I side. A 15-year-old is being pitted against someone twice his age who was, incidentally, Sooryavanshi’s captain at Rajasthan Royals last year.
Sooryavanshi broke the door down to the Indian T20I team through his thunderous exploits at the IPL 2026, where he blasted over 700 runs at a strike rate of almost 240. He broke Chris Gayle’s record for the most sixes in a single IPL edition, finishing with 72 maximums, 13 more than what Gayle managed in IPL 2012.
However, the southpaw has been on the bench so far in the three T20Is that India have played on their UK tour – two against Ireland and one against England.
Where Abhishek has scored runs in two of these three matches, Samson has been dismissed for three single-digit scores of 5, 0, and 1. While the management has iterated that they will back Samson, keeping Sooryavanshi on the bench for long even as Samson underperforms would be extremely difficult.
There are calls made by multiple quarters that Samson should be dropped from the 2nd T20I against England. However, we have some strong reasons for Samson to be retained in the lineup.
IND vs ENG: 3 Reasons Why Sanju Samson Should Not Be Dropped For Vaibhav Sooryavanshi For 2nd T20I
Samson proved his worth during the T20 World Cup
For a long time, Samson had shown flashes of his brilliance but couldn’t cement his place in the side. He eventually pulled out his peak performances in the most important fixtures for India.
At the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, Samson struck 97* in a virtual knockout match against West Indies, 89 vs England in the semi-final, and 89 vs New Zealand in the final, propelling India to the trophy while bagging the Man of the Tournament award.
Samson etched his name in Indian cricket folklore with these performances. He proved his worth and his mettle in the most high-pressure games a team could be part of, and dropping him only after a few low scores wouldn’t be fair on the Kerala cricketer.
Samson must be backed for the 2028 T20 World Cup
The 2028 T20 World Cup will be hosted in Australia and New Zealand. The pitches there offer seam movement and extra bounce. Samson is well-known for his ability to tackle the fast bowlers far better than he fares against spinners.
In those conditions, Samson could once again prove to be the defining factor for India as the Men in Blue will look for a hat-trick of T20 World Cup trophies.
On the other hand, Sooryavanshi has been found out against short-pitched bowling.
Dropping Samson will send the wrong message to other players
This is the most important factor for Samson to get the backing from the Team India management, headed by Gambhir and Iyer. If Samson is dropped only after three or four or even five failures despite his feats at the T20 World Cup, this would send a wrong message to other players and will breed insecurity.
India have come a long way from traditional T20 cricket to playing fearless and selfless cricket. However, if players, especially batsmen, feel insecure about their places in the side, then they won’t be able to bat with the fearlessness and freedom that the management wants them to.
Hence, not dropping Samson will give the other players a sense of security and not shackle them into playing for themselves.
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