India’s decision to leave Vaibhav Sooryavanshi out of the playing XI for the first T20I against Afghanistan has sparked debate, with former batter Mohammad Kaif questioning the reasoning behind the selection.
Sooryavanshi was among India’s standout performers during the recent tour of Zimbabwe, earning Player of the Series honours as India completed a 3-0 T20I sweep. However, Sanju Samson’s return to the XI saw the teenager dropped to the bench for the series opener at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
Kaif questioned why Samson was selected despite not playing competitive cricket between being left out of the Zimbabwe tour and joining the squad for the Afghanistan series.
“What did Sanju do in between to get a chance today? Usually, when you are dropped, you play here and there and regain some form; nothing like that has happened. Why did he get a chance? That is a massive question? Why didn’t you go with the same combination after Vaibhav scored runs in Zimbabwe, that is another question,” Kaif told Cricbuzz.
The former India batter said the decision reflected uncertainty over the team’s preferred opening combination, with Samson, Sooryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma competing for two places at the top of the order.
“In my opinion, they are hesitating a bit; they are unsure of what their best opening combination is. The Indian team are still thinking about it. Vaibhav must be saying what did I do wrong? So this is a state of confusion going on, there is no doubt about it,” he added.
India began the Afghanistan series with a seven-wicket victory, restricting the visitors to 156/8 before Abhishek Sharma’s blistering 82 from 32 balls guided the hosts to the target in 13.4 overs.
