‘His time will come’: Ajinkya Rahane wants India to drop Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to play Sanju Samson in Afghanistan T20Is

‘His time will come’: Ajinkya Rahane wants India to drop Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to play Sanju Samson in Afghanistan T20Is originally appeared on Cricket News.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Ajinkya Rahane wants India to reinstate the T20 World Cup top three of Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan for the Afghanistan series.
• Rahane believes Vaibhav Sooryavanshi should play his natural game without overthinking, given how early this stage of his international career is.
• Samson won the T20 World Cup Player of the Tournament but has struggled for consistency in the UK series since that triumph.

Drop Sooryavanshi, play Samson? Ajinkya Rahane sparks debate over India T20I team’s top 3

Ajinkya Rahane has thrown his weight firmly behind Sanju Samson, and urged the Indian team management to reinstate the wicketkeeper-batter in the top three for the Afghanistan T20I series ahead of teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

The former India cricketer’s position is clear as he believes India should stick with what worked at the World Cup, and not rush a 15-year-old into a role he doesn’t need just yet.

The selection conversation around India’s Afghanistan series is dominated by one question: who opens alongside Abhishek Sharma, and what role do Samson and Sooryavanshi each play? Both are in the squad, which means someone has to give way, and Rahane’s answer is Sooryavanshi, at least for the time being.

“For me, I feel the top three who played in the World Cup. I think they should be the top three. Sanju Samson did very well. After that he was dropped. Two, or perhaps two or three innings, went badly for him, and after that he was dropped. But I want Sanju Samson to get another opportunity,” he said on his Hindi YouTube channel.

“Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan, who did well for us, should also play. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will get his chance. His opportunity will come. His time will come.”

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BCCI/Creimas

Samson’s World Cup brilliance marred by his rampant inconsistency

Samson was arguably India’s most prolific performer during the final stages of the T20 World Cup campaign as his contributions in the last three games were decisive, and the Player of the Tournament award capped off a remarkable run. It felt like the breakthrough moment of his international career.

Since then, though, form has been elusive. The T20I series in the UK didn’t go as hoped, and Sooryavanshi’s emergence as an explosive option at the top of the order gave the management an easy decision to sideline Samson without much public pushback.

Rahane is pushing back on that now, arguing that a player of Samson’s quality and World Cup record deserves a proper extended run rather than being dropped on the back of a short dip.

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Rahane’s message to Sooryavanshi, and perhaps to those around him, is to keep it simple. At 15, in the early stages of an international career, there’s no need to fix what isn’t broken.

The aggressive, fearless brand of cricket that earned him his India call-up is exactly what the management wanted when they picked him, and it should be the only thing he’s thinking about for now.

“I feel that right now he should play his game, the same game because of which he came into the Indian team. He should back that same game. It is a very early stage for him, early in his career in international cricket, so for the time being he doesn’t need to think too much,” Rahane said.

“You should leave him free. As you keep playing, one year, two years, after that your game will gradually change. But for the time being, the game that has helped him come here, I think he should play exactly that same game.”

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Rahane’s logic is sound, and the management has to make a decisive choice

There’s a lot to agree with in Rahane’s take, and also a lot that the numbers quietly complicate. He’s right that Samson deserves more than a two-inning audition before being shown the door.

A World Cup Player of the Tournament shouldn’t become a backup player because of a rough patch in a bilateral series. And he’s right that Sooryavanshi shouldn’t be burdened with excessive tactical thinking at 15.

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But the deeper question is whether the management wants to run Samson, Abhishek and Ishan Kishan as a settled unit while Sooryavanshi waits, or whether they’d rather explore the Samson-Sooryavanshi combination that hasn’t been tried yet. Both arguments have merit.

The Afghanistan series is low-stakes enough to try something different rather than simply reverting to the World Cup setup. Rahane’s preference is conservative and experience-led; the counter-argument is that the Afghan series is exactly the kind of moment to experiment. There’s no wrong answer here, just a dilemma for whoever makes the final call.

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