Dropping Samson in England toughest call: Gautam Gambhir

India head coach Gautam Gambhir said dropping Sanju Samson, the player of the tournament in India’s triumphant T20 World Cup run at home, during the recent tour to England was “probably the toughest decision” he has taken in his tenure.

After a run of low scores, Samson made way for a much-awaited international debut of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the T20 series in England.  However, India have returned to the established opening duo of Abhishek Sharma and Samson, who struck two fifty-plus scores in the dominant 3-0 series win over Afghanistan. “First of all, he doesn’t need to give me any credit (for proper communication when he wasn’t playing). His talent itself is enough for him to be in the dressing room. He’s shown what he’s capable of. Someone doesn’t become a player of the tournament in a World Cup without not having the talent. So he’s done enough,” Gambhir lauded Samson in the post-series media interaction. “Obviously, it was tough (dropping Samson). Probably the toughest decision I’ve taken in my coaching tenure is obviously leaving him out in that England series, because obviously, the way he’s performed before that. But again, sometimes you go with players’ form as well,” said the former India batter. Gambhir made it clear that Sooryavanshi will have to wait for his next opportunity. “In this series, we were always very clear that we want to go back to the combination that we had during the World Cup, because those guys, after three or four failures, do not become bad players.

“And the kind of cricket we’ve played — if a team that has gone unbeaten from one World Cup to the other World Cup and has won the World Cup — suddenly, it doesn’t become a bad team after one or two series. These guys do not become bad players after two or three failures. That is what we said.

“From Vaibhav’s point of view, it was again a very clear conversation that he has to wait for his opportunity. We know the kind of talent he has. We know what he can do.” The head coach said long-term performance will be given more importance when it comes to selecting players.

“But again, someone who’s done extremely well over a period of two years obviously will always be ahead of someone who’s just come into the team. So, whenever he gets that chance, he will get a longer run as well.

“And that is what Indian cricket is all about. We want competition. We want that talent in the dressing room. But sometimes that’s how cricket goes. Whether you’re a 15-year-old or a 30-year-old, when you have to wait for your opportunity,” said Gambhir.

Gambhir also touched upon the issue of players breaking down frequently. The BCCI Centre of Excellence of late have come under scrutiny for injury management of players.

As Test and ODI captain, Gill has not had a full-strength team at his disposal early in his captaincy tenure. Jasprit Bumrah missed the Test tour of Sri Lanka due to an injury, and Hardik Pandya has not played since the IPL in May. “If I can be completely honest, then yes.  In Test cricket and one-day cricket especially, you want your best players to play as much as they can because the next year’s World Cup is in the 50-over format.

“And more importantly, it’s not fair on a young captain (Gill) as well if he doesn’t get the best team playing consistently and regularly, and not being on the path consistently.

“If I have to be dead honest, yes. As a coach, I can take all the criticism, but for me, I think it is important for Shubman to get the best playing 11 as many times as he can in red-ball and in white-ball formats,” said Gambhir.

The upcoming home ODI series against the West Indies will be played without the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan and Jasprit Bumrah, who would be competing in the Asian Games.

Gambhir said playing without key players is not ideal preparation for the World Cup in a year. “Obviously, we know that it’s not ideal when you’re preparing for a World Cup which is in a year. But again, the Asian Games squad was selected long back, and sometimes it’s difficult for the selectors when they have to put the best squad in place.

“So, we always knew that if the frontline players go to the Asian Games, we will probably have to compromise a bit in the one-day series against West Indies. But again, it gives other people the opportunity as well.

“And obviously, in a series like this, you’ve got young guys like Naman Dhir, Aauqib Nabi, getting those opportunities in the squad. So they can also show what they bring in the white-ball format. And obviously, the bigger the pool, the better it is for us.

“Normally, when you have all the players available, sometimes new players might not get that opportunity. But now with people like Auqib and Naman, these guys will get that opportunity. So on one hand, it’s good. But on the other hand, obviously, we want the best players,” Gambhir added.

‘India should be doing incredible things’

India should breach the 300-run mark soon in T20 cricket, considering the special talent the team possesses, its head coach Gautam Gambhir has said. India’s highest total in T20Is is 297, made against Bangladesh in 2024. In the same year, the reigning T20 World Cup champions hammered 283 for one in South Africa.

Gambhir spoke about the desire to post 300 when asked about Abhishek Sharma’s 30-ball hundred in the final T20 against Afghanistan here on Thursday. “For me, the biggest positive was when we got a 100 in the powerplay. That we have never done in my coaching tenure. So I think that was a very clear message that if you’re going hard, just keep going hard.

“That is what the message is, and that is exactly the message that’s going to be in future as well, that we still haven’t reached 300. So that’s probably the next target because the kind of talent we have in that dressing room, we should be doing some incredible things,” said Gambhir.

The head coach stressed the impact of Abhishek’s knock rather than his individual milestone. India could have got close to 300 considering the start they had but slipped to 221 for seven with an ordinary effort in the last five overs.

“Look, I just want to say one thing. It’s not about the 100 that he scored today. I can sit here and keep talking about his 100. But it’s just the impact. The only thing that we talk about in that dressing room is how much impact we can create with the bat and how much impact we can create with the ball. And that has been our ideology,” Gambhir said.

“That has been our philosophy for the last two years. T20 cricket is not about runs or wickets. It’s about how much impact you can create,” added Gambhir.