Indian cricket has always had a tough side to it when it comes to team selection. But what happened this week with Sanju Samson takes that toughness to a whole new level. Just two days after losing his place in the playing XI to teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Samson has now been dropped completely from India’s upcoming tour of Zimbabwe. This is the same Sanju Samson who was named Player of the Tournament when India won the T20 World Cup. The decision has left many people in the cricket world confused and asking one simple question: why?
A Pattern of Ruthless Calls
Ajit Agarkar and his selection panel have never been shy about taking bold and hard decisions. Since Agarkar took over as chairman of selectors, big names have been dropped without much warning. Mohammed Shami, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli have all felt the axe at some point under this selection committee. Even Suryakumar Yadav, who led India to the T20 World Cup title, was removed as captain just three months later and then dropped from the squad altogether.
So, in some ways, nobody should be shocked that Samson has been dropped. This panel has shown time and again that no player, no matter how big their name is, gets special treatment. But there is a big difference between being bold and being fair. And this decision, unlike some of the others, does not feel fair at all.
The Timing Makes No Sense
Let’s look at the bigger picture here. Samson was part of the T20 World Cup winning squad. He was named Player of the Tournament for his performances in that competition. Just weeks after that huge achievement, he is out of the team completely. That is a strange and quick fall for someone who was the toast of Indian cricket not too long ago.
Yes, his recent form has not been great. In his last three innings, he scored just 5, 0, and 1. Nobody is saying that those scores are good enough. But cricket, especially T20 cricket, is a format where players go through ups and downs quickly. A few low scores after a match-winning World Cup campaign should not be enough to throw a player out of the entire squad.
Remembering What Samson Did for India
To understand why this decision feels wrong, we need to go back to the T20 World Cup itself. India did not have the smoothest start to the tournament. It was after Samson came back into the playing XI, during the must-win game against Zimbabwe in Chennai, that things changed for India. From that point onward, the team looked like a completely different side.
In the final three matches of the tournament, Samson scored 97 not out, 89, and 89. These were not just big scores, they were match-winning innings that came at the most important stage of the competition. Very few Indian batsmen have managed to produce a run like that in World Cup knockout games.
What makes this even more special is how Samson played those innings. In both the semifinal against England and the final against New Zealand, he had the chance to score a century. Instead of chasing personal milestones, he continued to play for the team, trying to push the scoring rate higher. He got out doing exactly that. In many ways, Samson was putting the team ahead of himself, sacrificing his own numbers to help India win.
A Philosophy Built on Taking Risks
Sanju Samson has never been a batsman who plays for consistency. He has said before that he would rather score a quick 30 that changes the game than get a slow century in a losing effort. This shows his mindset clearly. He is a player who takes risks, and in T20 cricket, that kind of player can either fail quickly or win matches almost single-handedly.
This risk-taking style is exactly what head coach Gautam Gambhir has been asking from his batters since he took charge. The message from the team management has always been simple: bat fearlessly and don’t worry about your wicket. This kind of approach only works when players feel safe in their spots. When batters know they won’t be dropped after one or two failures, they play with more freedom and take more chances.
This freedom is what helped Samson play the way he did during the World Cup. It is also what has helped young Vaibhav Sooryavanshi settle into the team so quickly. Both players have looked fearless because they knew their place in the team was secure, at least for a while.
What This Decision Really Signals
By dropping Samson so soon, after just three innings of poor form, the selectors have sent out a message that goes against everything they were trying to build. The message now is simple and a bit harsh: perform every single game, or you are out. This is not how you build a team that plays without fear.
India has a lot of young batting talent right now. For almost every position in the team, there are at least two or three players who deserve a chance. This means competition for places will always be high. But high competition should not mean that a player who delivered when it mattered most gets thrown out after just three failures right after a World Cup win.
The Bigger Problem for Team Balance
There is also a cricketing angle to this decision that cannot be ignored. India’s T20 team does not have too many right-handed batters in the top and middle order. Samson, being a right-hander, added some much-needed balance to the batting lineup. Without him, the team may lean too heavily on left-handed batters, which can make it easier for opposition bowlers to plan against India.
Beyond just the balance of the side, this decision could also change how other batters approach their innings. If players start believing that only big scores can save their place in the team, they may become more careful with their shots. They may start avoiding risks and playing for their place instead of playing for the team.
This is dangerous for a format like T20 cricket, where boldness and quick scoring often decide matches. If fear of being dropped creeps into players’ minds, strike rates could drop, and the fearless brand of cricket that Gambhir and his team have tried to build could take a hit.
Bold Decisions vs Fair Decisions
There is no doubt that Ajit Agarkar and his selection committee like to be bold. They have proven this again and again with big names being dropped without much notice. But being bold does not always mean being right. Dropping Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli after long careers, when their form had clearly dipped over time, is a different kind of decision compared to dropping Samson right after his best-ever performances for the country.
This latest decision feels less like a bold call and more like poor judgement. It looks like a case of using a player when the team needed him the most, and then discarding him the moment results dipped slightly. Samson gave everything he had when India needed him during the World Cup. He put the team first, sacrificed his own milestones, and delivered when it mattered the most.
To drop him so quickly after all of that sends a confusing signal, not just to Samson, but to every other player in the squad. It tells them that past performances, no matter how big, count for very little the moment results dip. That is not the kind of message that builds trust between players and team management, and trust is exactly what a fearless brand of cricket needs to survive.
The post Sanju Samson’s Shock Axing: When Selectors Forget to Reward Loyalty appeared first on Sportzcraazy.
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