The current Indian cricket squad boasts an abundance of explosive opening talent, with players like Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, and Vaibhav Suryavanshi lighting up both the IPL and international stages.
While Abhishek Sharma has maintained commendable consistency at the top, comparisons between Sanju Samson and young prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi have intensified ever since the latter earned his maiden senior team call-up for the tours of England and Ireland in June-July. During the Ireland series, Sanju featured regularly, but managed scores of 5, 0, and 1 in the opening T20I against England. Vaibhav made his international debut in the second T20I of that series, scoring 14, 13, and 15 across three outings. Sanju returned for the fifth T20I to score 27, before being rested for the subsequent Zimbabwe tour, where Vaibhav flourished with impressive knocks of 50, 20, and 81. However, the youngster found himself unceremoniously dropped once again for the West Indies series.
Lashing out at the team management’s erratic selection policies, former Indian captain and 1983 World Cup winner Krishnamachari Srikkanth expressed deep frustration over how frequent chopping and changing is destroying players’ psychological morale. According to Srikkanth, the constant benching has shattered the confidence of both Sanju Samson and Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Speaking on his YouTube channel, a furious Srikkanth remarked, “It’s not just Sanju, Team India has broken Vaibhav’s confidence too. He should have been given at least three matches against a side like West Indies. Abhishek has been playing for a long time; he could have easily been rested for a series. In the next game, Suryavanshi and Samson should open.”
Analyzing Sanju Samson’s fluctuating performances, Srikkanth pointed out a distinct lack of consistency in the wicketkeeper-batsman’s career arc. While acknowledging Sanju’s match-winning contributions during India’s T20 World Cup triumph, Srikkanth noted that his form tends to blow hot and cold. “Samson is never consistent. His form always fluctuates, and questions will always be raised about his consistency. Sometimes he plays brilliantly like he did in the World Cup, and other times he goes completely missing. That is not the case with Abhishek Sharma,” he added, strongly criticizing Gautam Gambhir and the coaching staff for keeping promising talents on the sidelines.