India’s third T20I against England at Trent Bridge now carries a sharper selection edge after Sanju Samson’s omission from the second match triggered criticism from former internationals.
Samson was left out in favour of teenage batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for the Old Trafford T20I, a call Sanjay Manjrekar described as “most bizarre” in comments reported by the Times of India. Aakash Chopra has also questioned whether India are handling Samson fairly, adding to the pressure before Tuesday’s Nottingham fixture.
India’s balance question has moved beyond one place
The issue is not only whether Samson returns. It is whether India want a stable wicketkeeper-batter with senior tournament experience or whether they are prepared to keep accelerating Sooryavanshi’s rise in a live bilateral series.
Cricbuzz lists the third T20I for July 7 at 5.30pm local time at Trent Bridge, with the match starting at 16:30 GMT. The BCCI event page continues to list Samson in India’s wider tour squad, while Arshdeep Singh leads a pace group that has already influenced the series tempo.
That leaves India with a clean but uncomfortable call: restore Samson and soften the debate, or back Sooryavanshi again and make the future-now message unmistakable. Either route will frame India’s top-order thinking before the final two white-ball stops of the tour.
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Sources: Cricbuzz match info, BCCI tour page.
