Sanju Samson’s international career has been full of twists and turns. But inarguably the most shocking turn has taken place over the past couple of days.
India’s Man of the Tournament at the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, Samson was dropped from India’s playing XI for the 2nd T20I against England in Manchester on Saturday after just three failures as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi received his debut T20I cap.
And on Monday, Sanju Samson was excluded from the India squad for Zimbabwe T20Is later this month.
After India’s ongoing trip to the UK, which includes two T20Is against Ireland, five T20Is and three ODIs against England, Shreyas Iyer’s team will fly to Zimbabwe for a short three-T20I series, with the matches scheduled for July 23, 25, and 26 in Harare.
Though it will be a brief T20I series, it remains important for Iyer and other Indian players who have underperformed so far against Ireland – where India lost 2-0 – and England, where India are trailing by 1-0.
Is Sanju Samson’s India career on the verge of ending?
There are serious doubts over the T20I career of Sanju Samson as he was not picked for the three-T20I tour of Zimbabwe, having already been dropped from the XI in England for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
It’s not yet clear whether he has been dropped or rested from the Zimbabwe tour; the BCCI didn’t make it clear either.
However, it is not only Samson who has been left out. From the T20I squad in England, the BCCI has made six changes. Apart from Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Ravi Bishoni, and Washington Sundar are the exclusions.
They have been replaced by Rinku Singh, Mayank Yadav, Prabhsimran Singh, Yash Thakur, Ashok Sharma, and Harsh Dubey in the squad. Rinku and Mayank make their comeback to the T20I setup, while Prabhsimran, Yash, Ashok, and Dubey have received their maiden call-up to the T20I squad.
Dubey, a left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder, made his ODI debut against Afghanistan last month. Prabhsimran has had two impressive IPL seasons in a row, while Ashok had a breakthrough edition this year for Gujarat Titans.
Tilak Varma, despite the criticism from a few quarters, has been retained as the vice-captain.
IND vs ZIM: India T20I squad for Zimbabwe our
Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma (VC), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Varun Chakaravarathy, Rinku Singh, Harsh Dubey, Prince Yadav, Yash Thakur, Ashok Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Mayank Yadav
Get the Latest Cricket Updates at IceCric.News. Also, Follow Our Social Media for live updates on Facebook and Instagram.
