Former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel believes the decision to drop Sanju Samson and hand teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi an opportunity in the ongoing T20I series against England was driven more by emotion than logic.
India’s bold selection call has come under scrutiny after the defending T20 World Cup champions slipped to an unassailable 3-0 deficit in the five-match series, with the opening match washed out by rain and only one game remaining. England sealed the series with a dominant nine-wicket win in the fourth T20I, their first-ever bilateral T20I series triumph over India.
Sooryavanshi has struggled to make an impact. The 15-year-old scored 14 on debut, followed it up with 13 in India’s record 125-run defeat in the third T20I, and managed only a modest contribution in the fourth game as India’s top order continued to falter.
“Why is it always Sanju Samson who misses out? If you look at Sanju Samson’s career over the last 11-12 years, the one question that has always followed him is consistency. In 12 years, there has been just one IPL season in which he scored over 500 runs. Even in international cricket, he either blows hot or cold. And when it comes to selection, that factor always comes into play,” Patel told Jio Hotstar.
“Either the player who isn’t scoring quickly enough gets left out, or the one who has been inconsistent. You can’t make decisions based on both emotion and logic. So emotionally, yes, it was the right call to give Vaibhav Sooryavanshi a chance. But if you go purely by logic, then why has Sanju Samson been left out? So, I think this decision was taken emotionally,” Patel added.
The former India wicketkeeper also said Indian cricket’s vast talent pool often fuels debates over players left out of the playing XI. “This is just how we are. Whenever someone isn’t in the team, we automatically feel they’re the one who would have done a better job. At the last T20 World Cup, Shreyas Iyer wasn’t there, and everyone kept asking, ‘Why isn’t Shreyas Iyer in the team?’ Now that he’s back, people are saying Rajat Patidar should be in the side.
“Ever since the series against Ireland began, everyone has been saying, ‘Play Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, play Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.’ Now that he’s playing, the question has become, ‘Why isn’t Sanju Samson playing?’ That’s just our tendency. Because our talent pool is so deep, whenever the team loses a match, we always feel the player sitting out would have done a better job,” he added.
Meanwhile, Team India and Sooryavanshi would look to end their England tour on a high note with a win in the last match on Saturday.
