Conversation between coach, player

“The first thing is that regarding the clarity Sanju Samson needed, he has been given that from my side. That’s a conversation strictly between the player and the head coach. That conversation is not going to come outside,” Gambhir told reporters after the latest defeat.

Gambhir affirmed that Samson’s contributions were not discarded altogether even though the Kerala wicket-keeper was recently dropped from the T20I squad for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour.

“Regarding Sanju, we are very clear what he has done for India has been phenomenal and sometimes you just have to look at the form of a certain player. There is no hard and fast rule that he cannot make a comeback in this series.”

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While India’s selections have come under the scanner following their extended winless streak, Gambhir backed the calls made by the management, insisting that players must earn their long ropes in the XI.

“International cricket is about results, so whatever we feel is the best combination to give us that result, we play that combination and that playing XI. I’ve always been a big believer that everyone needs to earn their place and the right to play for India.”

“I think it was atrocious. I couldn’t use a better word, honestly,” said Iyer in the post-match presentation ceremony. India were all out just 76 runs in reply to England’s 201/7. “Losing by such a big margin is definitely not acceptable. First things first, I feel that we need to accept this loss and completely go back to the drawing board and see what we did wrong.”

Iyer said that England scored more than what he felt was the par score on the wicket. “But other than that, the way we batted, we lost four (five) wickets in the powerplay. I think that itself did create the momentum, and definitely I feel that we lost over there. So, we’ve got to go back to the drawing board,” he said.

The 31-year-old urged his teammates to take responsibility in seeing bhow they can contribute towards creating momentum for the team. “We’ve played awful cricket for sure, but a lot of learnings from it as well. Players have to start thinking about how to basically make an impact or create that momentum towards the team. So definitely every individual has to think by himself and see how they can win the matches and take that sort of responsibility,” he said.

Phil Salt was the top scorer for England earlier having smashed 70 in 44 balls while Sam Curran finished unbeaten on 41 off 24 as England closed their innings with a score of 201/7. However, the real story was India’s utter capitulation with the bat. The visitors lost as many as four wickets in the powerplay and India were tottering on a score of 54/5 at the end of the first six overs.

England’s fast bowlers Josh Tongue and Jofra Archer led the charge from the hosts in this period. Tongue got the first wicket in the form of Abhishek Sharma in the second over and the latter’s opening partner Vaibhav Sooryavanshi fell to Archer in the next over. Ishan Kishan fell to Tongue in the fourth after which Archer dismissed India captain Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel in the fifth. The sixth over pretty much turned out to be just the second over of the powerplay in which India didn’t lose a wicket.

However, the collapse resumed shortly after that. Tilak Varma fell to Will Jacks first ball of the eighth over and Shivam Dube, curiously sent out behind Harshit Rana, became Tongue’s third wicket of the match. Tongue went on to dismiss Rana himself to finish with figures of 4/28 in four overs, while Archer returned 3/29 in three. Tongue’s fourth wicket was sandwiched by two strikes for Adil Rashid, with Varun Chakravarthy’s fall in the 12th over sealing the deal for England.

Sources in the Indian board stated that selection committees have generally preferred to try the fringe players for such small tours. In the past, tours to Zimbabwe have seen many Indian players making their debut. Ajit Agarkar & Co could not have rested Shreyas Iyer as he took over as the captain only recently and are also inclined to give more opportunities to Tilak Varma, who remains the vice-captain.

India head coach Gautam Gambhir and Sanju Samson during a training session at the Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street, England. (BCCI/Creimas Photo)

With Samson rested, the Zimbabwe series will give more opportunities to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. With Samson dropped, the batting is again left-hander heavy with Shreyas being the lone right-hander amongst frontline batsmen unless Prabhsimran gets a game. Earning a recall to the squad is Rinku Singh, as in the absence of Hardik Pandya, India have been short on options for the finisher’s role in the UK trip.

It is understood that the reason to rest Samson along with Axar, Arshdeep was taken keeping their busy season they have had. The trio have been playing non-stop cricket for the last six months without a considerable break period. But resting Samson, who features only in one format raises eyebrows even as selectors insist that they have seen enough of his potential and what he can offer to the team.

“The selectors were keen to try young players and that is why you will see young pacers like Ashok Sharma, Yash Thakur and Mayank Yadav getting a chance. There is a decent pool of pacers which the selection committee wants to create. As far as Sanju’s case, he is rested like Axar and Arshdeep,” a source in the Indian board informed.

When the BCCI released the squad on Monday evening, there were no reasons for Samson’s omission. There was a note which mentioned Shivam Dube will replace the injured Nitish Kumar Reddy in the ODI team for the series against England.

Samson has never been synonymous with consistency. He is the player who once said that he would happily take a 30 that makes an impact in a game over a century in a losing cause. It’s this philosophy around which Samson has constructed his T20 game, as he prefers to make an impact by embracing a high-risk approach. This is what prompted India to bring him back into the XI midway through the T20 World Cup, when they had got off to an uncertain start.

After Samson’s arrival in Chennai for the must-win game against Zimbabwe, India appeared a changed outfit, becoming an unstoppable force. In the final three matches, Samson had scores of 97 not out, 89 and 89 – a run that would be hard for any Indian batsman to replicate in a World Cup. All three ended up as match- winning efforts. But in India’s first series since the T20 World Cup, against Ireland earlier last week Samson had scores of 5 and 0. He then began the series in England with 1 in Chester-Le-Street, before he made way for Sooryavanshi at Manchester. Dropping him from the XI itself was seen as a harsh call and two days later has been rested for Zimbabwe tour

In the past the selection committee had bypassed players whom they have seen first hand. Yashasvi Jaiswal was not included for India’s tour to Zimbabwe in 2024 as the selectors wanted to give a chance to Abhishek Sharma. The Punjab swashbuckling went on to score hundred and cemented his place in the side while Jaiswal still awaits for a run in the T20I set-up.