Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has described India’s decision to drop Sanju Samson for the second T20I against England as “bizarre”, even as he welcomed the long-awaited international debut of teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
The 15-year-old made an impressive start to his international career, scoring 14 off just 10 balls to become the youngest Indian to debut in international cricket, eclipsing the record held by Sachin Tendulkar, who was 16 when he made his India debut in 1989.
However, India lost the match on Saturday by 4 wickets to trail 0-1 in the five-match series, after the first game was washed out.
Samson, the hero of the T20 World Cup, had trouble getting going on the current tour, therefore Sooryavanshi’s debut came at his expense. Manjrekar stated that since both could have been accommodated, there was no reason to exclude Samson in favor of Sooryavanshi.
“Great to see Vaibhav in India colours. But what about Samson! Dropped?? Are you kidding me! No, I guess, injured. Let’s hope it’s injury. Or it’s the most bizarre selection.
“Could have easily batted at 3 if you wanted to get Vaibhav in,” Manjrekar posted on X, suggesting that India could have reshuffled the lower middle order instead, allowing both Samson and Sooryavanshi to feature in the playing XI.
After hitting two consecutive 89-run knocks in the semifinal and the final, Samson, 32, was named player of the T20 World Cup.
In contrast, Sooryavanshi shone in the IPL with a strike rate of more than 230.
