Gautam Gambhir opens up on Sanju Samson's England omission

Gautam Gambhir says leaving Sanju Samson out of India’s England T20 series was among the toughest selection calls of his coaching tenure, despite Samson being the World Cup Player of the Tournament earlier in 2024. Samson earned the award after scoring 97 not out, 89 and 89 in the final three matches, but was omitted after he made 5, 0 and 1 on the Ireland and England tours. Gambhir argued India wanted to return to the World Cup-winning combination and noted a few failures don’t make proven players “bad.” Samson was later recalled for the Afghanistan series and scored 117 runs in three matches at a 180 strike rate, including two fifties. The 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who replaced Samson in England, stayed out of the XI in all three Afghanistan T20Is, with Gambhir saying the plan was for him to wait for his opportunity.