“Why is this surprising that Sanju has been rested for Zimbabwe? People who are saying this should know Sanju is in the Asian Games squad in September. So those who are criticising the selection committee can do a bit of homework. What’s the point of carrying Samson when he won’t play? He is a senior guy.”
Senior BCCI official, Circle of Cricket, July 6, 2026
That was the BCCI’s response to questions about why Sanju Samson was dropped from India’s Zimbabwe T20I squad.
Not a press conference. Not a formal statement. A response from an unnamed official, telling fans to do their homework.
Three months ago, Samson was named the Player of the Tournament at the T20 World Cup. He scored 321 runs in five innings. He hit 97 not out against West Indies, 89 in the semi-final against England, and 89 in the final against New Zealand. Those three innings helped India defend the T20 World Cup title for the first time in cricket history.
By July 6, 2026, his name was missing from the Zimbabwe squad.
The selectors said he was rested. The problem is they did not say this when the squad was announced. The explanation came only after the criticism had already started.
Harsha Bhogle put the core issue on X:
“I think it is imperative that the BCCI gives fans the reason why Sanju Samson isn’t in the team to Zimbabwe. Communication is crucial because otherwise people will arrive at their own conclusion. Because surely he cannot be dropped. Surely not.”
Harsha Bhogle, X (formerly Twitter), July 6, 2026
I think it is imperative that the BCCI gives fans the reason why Sanju Samson isn’t in the team to Zimbabwe. Communication is crucial because otherwise people will arrive at their own conclusion. Because surely he cannot be dropped. Surely not.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 6, 2026
The form question is real. Samson scored 5 and 0 against Ireland, then 1 in the first T20I against England. Before that run, he had scored three exceptional innings across the knockout stages of a World Cup. The numbers after the tournament are poor. The timing of the omission, coming days after he lost his playing XI spot to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s debut at Old Trafford, made it sharper.
The Zimbabwe squad selection was the Ajit Agarkar-led committee’s call. Dainik Jagran journalist Abhishek Tripathi reported that Gautam Gambhir had no role in that decision. Gambhir did, however, speak to Samson personally. Speaking after India’s third T20I loss to England at Trent Bridge, he said:
“The clarity that should have been given to Sanju Samson, he has got from me. And that conversation is between a head coach and a player. The contents of that conversation are obviously not something I’ll share with you.”
Gautam Gambhir, press conference, Trent Bridge, July 8, 2026
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He added that the committee said the Zimbabwe tour is a fringe series and they wanted to give Prabhsimran Singh, who has impressed for Punjab Kings in two straight IPL seasons, international game time behind the stumps. He did not rule out Samson returning to the playing XI in the England series.
These are reasonable points. But the way they were communicated is what created the noise. Aakash Chopra had already noted a distinct pattern with Samson before the Zimbabwe squad was announced: good numbers at home, a different story away. Morne Morkel had come out publicly at a press conference in Manchester, just three days before the squad announcement, to back Samson.
Samson made his T20I debut in July 2015. He then waited four and a half years to play another game in that format for India. He was part of India’s 2024 T20 World Cup winning squad but did not play a single match in the tournament. He has been rotated in and out of squads across a decade.
The pattern does not need homework to spot.
There is now fresh uncertainty about his Asian Games place too. The squad announced in June 2026 includes Samson. But Cricket Addictor reports the BCCI is looking at possible last-minute changes before the tournament in Japan in September. The broader conversation around Samson’s omission, including what Ashwin said, is covered in our earlier piece.
Insider Read:
In any dressing room, players watch selection decisions closely. Not just their own. They watch how selectors talk about their teammates after making those calls.
When an official responds to fans asking why the Player of the Tournament is not in the squad by telling them to do a bit of homework, the message inside the dressing room is very clear.
Then the head coach confirms he spoke to Samson privately, but tells the world the contents of that conversation will never come out. That is two separate people, in two separate ways, keeping the same door shut.
It means the selector’s view of Samson has not changed. Not after the 97 against West Indies. Not after the 89 in the final. He is still, in their thinking, a player who can be managed in and out based on the schedule.
This is a specific category in cricket selection. Once a selector places you there, almost nothing moves you out.
I have seen this across levels of the game. A selector forms a view of a player early. The player can score runs, win matches, earn individual awards. But the tag stays. “He is an impact player.” “Not consistent enough for a regular slot.” “A match-winner, but not a fixture.”
Samson has carried some version of that tag since 2015. Three innings at a World Cup, including a 97 in a must-win Super 8 match and an 89 in the final, did not remove it.
The comment about fans doing their homework, intended or not, confirmed that nothing has changed in how this selection panel sees him. Gambhir’s carefully worded press conference confirmed the same thing from a different angle: Samson has been told something, but nobody outside that room will hear what.
The result of a match tells you what happened on the pitch. A squad announcement tells you who plays next. But how a selector and a head coach both talk publicly about a player after dropping him tells you everything about the long-term plan.
Or in this case, the absence of one.
Sources:
- [Sanju Samson left out of India’s T20I squad for Zimbabwe tour, July 6, 2026] ESPNcricinfo
- [Why Sanju Samson was omitted from Zimbabwe T20I squad, July 7, 2026] ESPNcricinfo
- [Sanju Samson ‘rested’, not dropped for Zimbabwe T20I series, July 6, 2026] Circle of Cricket
- [Who dropped Sanju Samson vs Zimbabwe? Report reveals role of India’s decision-makers, July 6, 2026] Cricket Addictor
- [India head coach Gambhir says he has given Sanju Samson clarity on T20I omission, July 8, 2026] ESPNcricinfo
- [Sanju Samson adjudged T20 World Cup Player of the Tournament, March 2026] ICC
- [Sanju Samson set to miss Asian Games, report confirms India squad changes, July 7, 2026] Cricket Addictor
