Why was Sanju Samson, Player of the 2026 T20 World Cup, left out of India's squad for the three-match T20I series in Zimbabwe? Was Samson dropped, rested, or injured? There was no explanation in the BCCI media release announcing the 15-member squad on Monday.
Cricinfo has learned that the Ajit-Agarkar-led selection panel did not consider Samson only because Zimbabwe tour is a fringe series. And with Samson already part of the India squad for the 2026 Asian Games, scheduled in September in Japan, the selectors wanted to give exposure to another wicketkeeper-batter in Prabhsimran Singh who has made a good impression through his T20 exploits, especially in the last two seasons of the IPL with Punjab Kings (PBKS).
Prabhsimran, who played three matches for India A in the tri-series in Sri Lanka in June, is the second wicketkeeper-batter in the India squad for the Zimbabwe series behind Ishan Kishan.
Samson's omission has generated a widespread debate particularly considering his recent form: following his impactful performance at the T20 World Cup, where he was the third highest run-maker, Samson made two centuries and was the leading run scorer for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2026.
Samson has gone through a run of low scores on the tours of Ireland and England, however, with scores of 5, 0 and 1 before being dropped in the second T20I against England in Manchester, paving the way for the 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to make a long-anticipated international debut.
While Samson's lean run is understood not to be a factor in his omission from the Zimbabwe tour, it could not be confirmed if the selectors spoke to him about their decision.
This is the second time since the T20 World Cup that the selectors have stirred strong debate. The first was when they dropped Suryakumar Yadav for the tours of Ireland and England, India's first assignment since they became the first team to defend the T20 World Cup. Suryakumar had captained India to that title. Shreyas Iyer, who had last played a T20I in December 2023, came into the squad on the basis of strong IPL showings at the helm of PBKS in back-to-back seasons, and replaced Suryakumar as captain. Agarkar said the selectors had made the change with an eye on the future. Suryakumar, 35, had endured a difficult year-and-a-half with the bat including a lean IPL 2026 with Mumbai Indians.
The Zimbabwe series will begin four days after India's tour of England with the T20Is scheduled on July 23, 25 and 26 in Harare. It is understood that VVS Laxman will be head coach for the Zimbabwe tour as well as the Asian Games with the regular India coaching staff focussing on the Sri Lanka Test tour in August and the white-ball series against West Indies in September-October.