Sanju Samson was the Player of the Tournament at the T20 World Cup; however, after a few failures, India dropped him during its tour to the United Kingdom and gave Vaibhav Sooryavanshi his debut cap. The decision received mixed reactions. Former Indian cricketer Ajinkya Rahane pointed out that India should stick to the top three who won the 2026 T20 World Cup—Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan—and also noted that Sooryavanshi’s time will come.

“I feel the top three should be the same that played in the World Cup. Samson has done well, but he got dropped after two or three bad innings. I want him to get another chance. Abhishek and Ishan also did well for us. Vaibhav will get his opportunities, and his time will come. But for now, I feel the top three should be Samson, Abhishek, and Ishan, who were our contributors in the World Cup,” he said in a video on his Hindi YouTube channel.

“I am happy to see Sanju Samson back in the team. He was the ‘Man of the Series’ in the World Cup. It has been up and down, and things were happening to him that were not in his control. But he is a match-winner, and his return strengthens the team.”

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Samson has returned to the Indian squad for the series against Afghanistan.

Back your game

In addition to Samson’s issue, Rahane reinforced his advice for Sooryavanshi, saying he should keep playing his attacking game.

“I think he should just play his game right now. He should back the game that led him to come into the Indian team. It is a very early stage for him in his career and in international cricket. As of now, there is no need for him to think a lot, and he should be set free. His game will eventually change after two or three years, as much as he keeps playing. It will be important for him to maintain balance. Apart from cricket skills, it is important to stay balanced off the field. That will be a challenge for him,” he said.

“If we talk about cricket skills, we saw how well he batted in the IPL and scored consistently. He scored for India A and also made runs for East Zone in the Duleep Trophy. He has shown consistency. The only thing for him will be to stay mentally balanced and stable so that he can continue operating the way he does. Yes, he will have to make some tweaks in his game, but there is time for that.”