First, captain Suryakumar Yadavand now Player of the Tournament Saint Samson. Almost four months after winning the T20 World Cup, India decided to move on from two key figures from the team that defended the title at home. While Ajit Agarkarchairman of the men’s senior selection committee, held a press conference explaining the move regarding SKY, much was left to imagination and interpretation when Samson was left out of the Shreyas Iyer-led squad for Zimbabwe.Not long ago, Samson was the toast of the nation for his strikes in the business end of the multi-nation tournament, but the selectors have been wary of the inconsistency of either side of those outings. The opener only made the World Cup XI as the left-handed top-order struggled against off-spin. He repaid the faith, but the frustrating pattern of inconsistency returned even in the IPL and subsequent international fixtures. Add to this a red-hot Vaibhav Sooryavanshi who makes life uncomfortable for the decision-makers. Samson was the original choice of the coaching staff and received support in the press conferences, but other crucial players in Indian cricket were not willing to make Sooryavanshi wait in the wings. The argument was simple: “How can you bring drinks? The whole argument of” he will learn “sounds so kiddish right now. You don’t make him learn by bringing napkins and drinks. You threw him in the deep end to swim when he is riding in high confidence”, explains a well-placed source.Someone had to make way, and the options were Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishanand Samson. While southpaws have been able to stay between runs, consistency has never been Samson’s friend. Whether this sends the right message to the team and the players is a separate discussion, but this move was purely meant to give Sooryavanshi the rope he has earned, even if it comes at the cost of batting for someone else. Prabhsimran Singh’s first international call-up sends another message. Even if Kishan, Sharma, or Sooryavanshi have failures or inconsistent matches, Prabhsimran is ready to take his chance, and it could be a tough road back for the experienced Samson. Although he was not the only player missing from the team playing in England, he is the only player in one format left out. Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel also missed the cut. Initially, there were suggestions to send a second string to Zimbabwe, under a new captain, but this did not translate into anything significant.
Gambhir and Co. are they traveling to zimbabwe?
There are rumblings that the regular support staff might skip the Zimbabwe tour. While TimesofIndia.com could not confirm, the talks are happening because the turnaround time between the ODI against England and the Zimbabwe series is much less. It remains to be seen if the support staff led by Gambhir boards the flight or if the Indian cricket board sends coaches from the CoE panel.
The changes in the Asian Games Team
India announced its squad for the Asian Games last month, but TimesofIndia.com can confirm there could be some last-minute changes. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to approach the relevant authorities with the request, if it has not already done so. The rules allow you to do so, and exceptions can also be made to accommodate a player who is not part of the initial long list.Indian Team for 2026 Asian Games: Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (VC), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singhor, Vashdeep Singh