Ajinkya Rahane wants India to restore the top three that won the T20 World Cup. Speaking on his YouTube channel on September 11, the recently retired former India captain backed Sanju Samson to reclaim his opening spot for the Afghanistan T20I series and urged patience with 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
“Samson has done well, but he got dropped after two or three bad innings. I want Sanju Samson to get another opportunity.”
Ajinkya Rahane, YouTube channel, September 11, 2026
Rahane named Samson, Abhishek Sharma, and Ishan Kishan as his preferred top three. All three were part of India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad earlier this year, and Rahane sees no reason to break that combination against Afghanistan.
“Vaibhav will get his opportunities, and his time will come. But for now, I feel the top three should be Samson, Abhishek, and Ishan.”
Ajinkya Rahane, YouTube channel, September 11, 2026
Samson’s World Cup numbers make the case on their own. He scored 321 runs in five innings at an average of 80.25 and a strike rate of 199.38. Three half-centuries, including 97 not out against West Indies, 89 against England in the semifinal, and 89 in the final against New Zealand. He won the Player of the Tournament award.
Then came the England tour. Samson sat out the second T20I in Manchester, reportedly voluntarily, to let Suryavanshi make his international debut. He missed the third T20I too.
Two days after that, BCCI announced the Zimbabwe squad without him. The official line was “rested, not dropped.” The timing told a different story.
Suryavanshi, meanwhile, made the most of his chances. The 15-year-old scored 151 runs across three T20Is against Zimbabwe at a strike rate of 196.10, earning Player of the Series. His IPL 2026 numbers with Rajasthan Royals were equally impressive: 776 runs and the Orange Cap.
But Rahane’s position is clear. Talent is not the question. Timing is.
“I think he should just play his game right now. He should back the game that led him to come into the Indian team,” Rahane said about Suryavanshi. “You should leave him free. As you keep playing, one year, two years, after that your game will gradually change.”
dir=”ltr”>India have both players in the 15-member squad for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, starting September 13 at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. Shreyas Iyer captains the side, with Tilak Varma as vice-captain. Jasprit Bumrah returns alongside Samson, though his inclusion is subject to fitness clearance.
The selection dilemma for the first T20I is straightforward. One spot, two players. Samson and Suryavanshi both bat at the top, and with Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan occupying the other two positions, only one opening slot remains.
What Being Dropped After Your Best Tournament Does to a Player
Rahane knows this cycle. He was dropped and recalled across formats throughout his international career. He played one of the most important knocks in Indian Test history at Melbourne in 2020, captained the side to a series win in Australia, then found himself out of the XI within months.
That experience shapes his view on Samson. A player delivers his finest performance on the biggest stage, wins Player of the Tournament, and gets dropped after two or three below-par innings on tour.
The message that sends is corrosive. It tells every player in the squad that peak performance buys you no credit.
It also shapes his advice on Suryavanshi. When you frame a 15-year-old’s selection as “replacing the World Cup hero,” you change how he plays. The teenager stops batting freely and starts batting to justify his place.
“As of now, there is no need for him to think a lot, and he should be set free,” Rahane said. That is not a pundit’s talking point. That is a player who has been on the wrong end of selection decisions telling you what the right approach looks like.
Suryavanshi’s numbers will only grow. His time will come, as Rahane put it. But the cost of rushing that timeline is a player who arrives burdened before he has had the chance to develop.
Samson’s return to the squad is the correction. Whether he returns to the playing XI on Sunday will tell us whether India have learned anything from the World Cup.
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