Mohammad Kaif has raised a clear selection question after Sanju Samson opened alongside Abhishek Sharma in the first T20I against Afghanistan on Sunday. Samson made 10 off eight balls, but the bigger debate is why he was in the XI ahead of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after the teenager's strong run in July.
Kaif said on Cricbuzz that he did not see what Samson had done in between to force his way back into the side. His point was simple: when a player is dropped, there is usually a period to regain rhythm, but that does not appear to have happened here.
The discussion matters because India are still settling on their best opening combination under skipper Shreyas Iyer and head coach Gautam Gambhir. Sanju Samson had played the first two T20Is against Ireland and the series opener against England before three low scores led to him being dropped. He later returned to the XI for the final T20I against England, which keeps him in the middle of the same selection conversation.
Why Sooryavanshi's case remains strong
Sooryavanshi's own recent work gives the debate more weight. In July, he scored 151 runs in a three-match series against Zimbabwe. During that tour, he opened alongside Abhishek Sharma and made 50, 20 and 81. That run was enough for many observers to expect the same opening pair to get another look.
Kaif's criticism centered on that exact point. He questioned why India did not continue with the same combination after Sooryavanshi scored runs in Zimbabwe, suggesting the current management is still unsure about its top-order plans. In his view, the team appears hesitant about its best opening pair, and that uncertainty could linger as the build-up to the T20 World Cup 2026 continues.
For now, the selection call has become part of a broader opening-batting debate. Samson remains an experienced option, but Sooryavanshi's recent output has made it harder to justify moving away from a combination that had already shown some success.
