No Hard and Fast Rule’ Gautam Gambhir Explains Sanju Samson’s Snub Following India’s Historic Defeat to England

India head coach Gautam Gambhir has addressed the team management’s controversial decision to drop wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson from the playing XI during the ongoing T20I series against England. Speaking to reporters shortly after India capitulated to a paltry 76 runs at Trent Bridge—suffering a record 125-run defeat, their biggest ever in T20Is—Gambhir clarified that the call to bench Samson was based strictly on recent form rather than long-term exclusion. Samson, who played a key role in India’s T20 World Cup triumph earlier this year, had endured an indifferent run on the UK tour, registering scores of 5 and 0 in Ireland before falling for just one run in the rain-affected opening T20I in Chester-le-Street. To address this slump, the management opted to hand a debut to 15-year-old batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in Manchester.

While Gambhir remained tight-lipped about the exact nature of the direct conversation he had with Samson, he reassured fans that the doors are far from closed for the Kerala batsman. Defending the team selection policy amid mounting scrutiny over India’s extended winless streak under stand-in captain Shreyas Iyer, the head coach emphasized that international cricket is fundamentally driven by performance and results. Gambhir backed his management’s choice to test alternative combinations, asserting that while Samson’s past contributions to the national side have been phenomenal, every player must continuously earn their place and the right to represent India in the playing XI.