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Mohammad Kaif criticizes Gautam Gambhir for dropping Sanju Samson: The India vs England 5-match T20I series is already underway, as the England national cricket team took the lead against Shreyas Iyer’s side by winning the 2nd T20I. The first T20I match was washed out due to rain, and the Three Lions made a strong comeback in the second game and won it by four wickets thanks to a brilliant inning of 76* from Jacob Bethel.
In the second T20I, Sanju Samson was dropped from the team after consistently low scores in recent innings, giving way to the debut of 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who scored 14 runs from 10 balls in his first game for the India national cricket team. Although many people have discussed the exclusion of Sanju Samson.
Mohammad Kaif raised questions on India’s planning regarding Sanju Samson
Sanju was the Player of the Tournament in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. He completely changed the dynamics of the team during major tournaments, as he finished as the leading run-getter for the team with 321 runs. He played back-to-back match-winning innings for the Men in Blue against West Indies, England and New Zealand, where he scored 89, 97 and 89 respectively.
Once again Sanju has been dropped due to his poor performance in Ireland and the first match against England. Ahead of the third T20I on Tuesday, former India batsman Mohammad Kaif has revealed about the same mistake India and Gautam Gambhir are making in the early stages of the T20 World Cup.
“Indian team is repeating the same mistake” – Mohammad Kaif on India not playing Sanju Samson
Mohammad Kaif said India were repeating the same mistake as they had opened with Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma in the tournament and realized that the opponents had discovered their weakness as the opponents brought in off-spinners. Abhishek Sharma failed to open his account in the first three matches. Mohammed Shami believes that Gautam Gambhir is hindering his return to India.
“I think the Indian team is repeating the same mistake they made during the World Cup. At that time, Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma were opening the batting. The opposition realized they could take advantage of them with an off-spinner, so they brought in one.”
Abhishek-Vaibhav @MohammadKaif is not a good option for long term planning pic.twitter.com/XzZ4yfdYJA
– Ravish Bisht (@ravishbofficial) July 6, 2026
“Abhishek Sharma was out for ducks three times, and Ishan Kishan also struggled. Even during that World Cup, we kept saying that two left-handed batsmen at the top were not enough – you needed a right-handed batsman in the middle. Sanju Samson hardly got chances.”
“That’s exactly what happened” – Mohammad Kaif criticizes Gautam Gambhir for poor decision making
After the heavy defeat against South Africa, they had to bring in a right-handed batsman in the middle order. Sanju Samson started opening with Abhishek, who was effective for the team. Kaif also pointed out that a team with proper planning and vision does not wait for something bad to happen to make changes.
“He [Sanju] Was not included until India suffered a heavy defeat against South Africa. Now the same thing has happened. Changes were made after the loss to Ireland – Washington Sundar was dropped, Prasidh Krishna was dropped. That’s exactly what happened that time.”
“What I’m saying is that a team with a clear vision and long-term plan doesn’t wait until it loses badly before making changes. If you wait until after a loss, change becomes inevitable. A visionary team should act before it reaches that stage.”