Samson snubbed again: Gambhir and Iyer’s selection policy sparks outcry as former player slams team management

Sanju Samson became a superstar after his three-match winning streak for India at the 2026 T20 World Cup and was named the Player of the Tournament. However, it took only a few months for him to become another soft target. His six in three innings on the UK tour were enough for the team management and the selectors to remove him from the playing XI and also the squad for the Zimbabwe series. Gautam Gambhir and his support staff have been highlighting the need to give a long run to the players, but their logic takes the back seat when it comes to the wicket-keeper batter. He has often been accused of lacking consistency, but what a player like him can do when there are limited chances.

Former India player Parthiv Patel has questioned why the opening batter fails to get a permanent spot in the team. He admitted that Samson hasn’t been among the runs on a consistent basis, leading to his omission in the past. However, the current situation defies logic, with Samson failing to find a place in the starting XI in England.

“Why does Sanju Samson always miss out? If you look at his career, consistency has been an issue in the last 11-12 years,” Patel said on JioHotstar.

“A player who is not scoring runs at a fast pace is left out, or the one who is not consistent is dropped. You can’t make decisions based on emotions and logic. If we talk about emotions, adding Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was the right call. But if you only apply logic, then why is Sanju Samson not playing? I think the decision to remove him was taken emotionally,” he added.

Patel mentioned that there is a perception that the player who is not in the team is a better player, as he gave the example of Shreyas Iyer and Rajat Patidar.

“This is how we react. Whenever someone is not playing for the team, we think they are the ones who would have done a better job. In the 2026 T20 World Cup, Shreyas Iyer was not there, and we are demanding his exclusion. We were questioning the reasons behind his non-selection,” he highlighted.

“Now he has been selected, and people have turned their focus towards Rajat Patidar, with many urging the selectors to consider him.”

India are trailing 0-3 against England, with just one match left. Patel was surprised to see the performance of the batters.

“We changed our intent in T20 cricket after the 2022 T20 World Cup. The players were skilled, but intent was lacking.

“Ishan Kishan, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma are capable enough of handling the short ball, and they play pull shots. However, when the ball is not there to go for the pull shot, you avoid the stroke. You are playing across the line, which is not the right way. It is a lack of planning in England. The English team is better than India in terms of planning and execution,” he concluded.