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Sanju Samson has been dropped from the playing eleven for the second match of the five-match T20 series against England. 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been included in the squad as Samson’s replacement.
Before the match, when the team line-up was revealed, Sanju Samson was seen having an animated chat with head coach Gautam Gambhir. Near the boundary ropes of the Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester, a serious person was saying something to the experienced opener.
Sanju Samson out; Vaibhav Suryavanshi debuted in Team India
Samson, with his hands on his waist and head bowed, is listening enthusiastically to Gautam Gambhir. It is unclear what the head coach said to the ousted opener, but it could be to support the batsman who has lost his place to emerging 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
The change is understandable. Sanju Samson was the first choice opening batsman for India, but he failed to perform well in three consecutive matches; Two against Ireland and one against England. As a result, he has been ruled out of the playing combination in Manchester tonight.
Watch the animated conversation between Sanju Samson and Gautam Gambhir here:
Nice to see Gautam Gambhir interacting with Sanju Samson. This is something you always need from management. pic.twitter.com/woihQi2l82
— Pitch Perfect (@_pitch__perfect) July 4, 2026
Why was Sanju Samson dropped from the playing eleven?
In his last three matches for the Indian cricket team, the 31-year-old batsman scored 5 and 0 against Ireland in the first and second T20I respectively, and was out for just 1 against England in the opening match of the ongoing series in Durham.
Samson’s consistent flop show with the bat became one of the main reasons for the Indian team management to hand Vaibhav Suryavanshi his first cap for the senior national cricket team in the T20I format. By making his debut at the age of just 15, Suryavanshi broke the record of Sachin Tendulkar, who had debuted in Team India at the age of 16.
Youngest to make international debut (full member teams)
14y 227d – Hasan Raza (PAK) vs ZIM, Faisalabad, 1996
15 years 99 days – Vaibhav Suryavanshi (India) vs England, Manchester, 2026*
15 years 116 days – Mohammed Sharif (BAN) vs ZIM, Harare, 2001
15 days 124 days – Mushtaq Mohammad (Pak) v West Indies, Lahore, 1959
16 years 127 days – Aaqib Javed (Pak) vs West Indies, Adelaide, 1988
16y 205d – Sachin Tendulkar (IND) vs PAK, Karachi, 1989
It’s a challenging day for England as Vaibhav Suryavanshi is in action
The entire cricket world was waiting for the debut of this wonder kid and finally it happened, that too in England against a strong team like England. Ahead of the series, England keeper-batsman Jos Buttler mentioned that Vaibhav Suryavanshi will be making his debut during the 5-match T20I series, so he asked his teammates to mentally prepare for this hard-hitter.
England captain Harry Brook also mentioned the same thing at the time of the toss. He came here, at the Old Trafford cricket ground, with a strategy to get the emerging batsman out as early as possible in the match.
Harry Brook said, “Yeah, we’ve done a little bit. We’ve got to make some tactical decisions… We’re thinking about tactical decisions. It’s just about executing them when we get there.”
