Sanju Samson’s Zimbabwe tour omission a selection committee decision

Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai

Subhayan Chakraborty, Kolkata

The anatomy of a 76 all out exposes the Indian batsmen’s inability to adapt to the conditions. At the post-match press conference, after India’s 125-run defeat to England in the third T20I in Nottingham, Gautam Gambhir, the head coach, admitted to the shortcomings. India, the T20 World champions, have lost four of their last five matches in the shortest format — the other game being a washout. For the first time since 2006, when they played their first T20I, India were winless in five consecutive matches.

“If you don’t read the conditions and don’t play the conditions better, you will end up on the losing side,” Gambhir told reporters. “We haven’t done that since Ireland (and) there are the results.”

The next question came along the expected lines — Sanju Samson’s omission from the playing XI. As regards him being left out of the squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series in Zimbabwe — we will come to that later.

Gambhir spoke about the clarity, while defending the decision to drop him from the playing XI. “First of all, the clarity that Sanju Samson should have been given, he has got from me,” he said. “And that conversation is only between a head coach and a player. We won’t tell the outside world what that conversation is. As far as clarity is concerned, we are absolutely clear that Sanju, what he has done for India during the World Cup, has been phenomenal. And sometimes you just have to look at the form of a certain player.”

Gambhir added: “There’s no such thing that there’s any hard and fast rule that he cannot make a comeback in this series. And more importantly, ultimately international cricket is about results. So whatever we feel is the best combination to give us the results, we play that combination, we play that playing XI.”

Sanju scored 5, 0 and 1 in the last three T20Is he played before being dropped. Only four months ago, however, he was the Player of the Tournament in India’s T20 World Cup triumph. The wicketkeeper-batsman led the team’s resurgence in the tournament with the scores of 97 not out, 89 and 89 in three must-win games. That he finds himself out of favour after just three failures suggests that the “long rope” theory has been put on the back burner, at least for the time being. Just to note, Tilak Varma, the current T20I vice-captain, hasn’t exactly set the stands on fire since his match-winning knock in the Asia Cup final last September.

Now to Sanju’s exclusion in the T20Is in Zimbabwe, and on the face of it, the decision defies logic. Yes, a tour of Zimbabwe allows the selectors to test the bench strength and accordingly, Prabhsimran Singh has been drafted into the squad as Ishan Kishan’s back-up. But Abhishek Sharma could well have been rested for the tour. The southpaw is an automatic pick in the shortest format. Also, he is in pretty good form. Sitting out of a series in Zimbabwe wouldn’t have jeopardised his position.

There’s no official word on whether Sanju has been dropped or rested for the Zimbabwe tour, but it is reliably learnt that the call was taken by the selection committee. The suggestion didn’t come from the head coach. From appointing Shreyas Iyer as the new T20I captain to fast-tracking Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to the Indian team and his subsequent senior international debut, and Sanju’s omission from the Zimbabwe tour party — certain decisions of late has the selection committee’s imprint, according to sources.

Contrary to common perceptions, Gambhir seemingly doesn’t have the last word on every cricketing matter.

Follow Revsportz for latest sports news

The post Sanju Samson’s Zimbabwe tour omission a selection committee decision appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.