New Delhi: ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Player of the Tournament Sanju Samson has been dropped from India’s squad for the three-match series against Zimbabwe from July 23 to 26.
Samson, who was instrumental in India’s successful defense of the T20 World Cup title by amassing 321 runs in five innings at an impressive average of 80.25, could not sustain his run after the 20-team mega event as he managed just six runs in three matches.
The right-handed batsman was replaced by 15-year-old Vaibhav Suriyavanshi in India’s line-up for the second T20I against England, which the visitors lost by four wickets in Manchester. However, Samson is part of India’s full-strength squad for the Asian Games in Japan in September.
Although the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) did not specify the reason for his exclusion, he is among six changes to the T20I squad currently playing in the five-match series in England, in which they lead 1-0.
Apart from Samson, Prashit Krishna, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Washington Sundar and Ravi Bishnoi did not make it.
They were replaced by middle-order batsman Ringu Singh and pacer Mayank Yadav who returned to India’s T20Is, while wicketkeeper-batsman Prabsimran Singh, pacers Yash Thakur and Ashok Sharma and all-rounder Harsh Dubey got their maiden international call-ups.
India squad for T20 series against Zimbabwe
Shreyas Iyer (catch), Vaibhav Suriyavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma (VC), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shivam Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Rinku Singh, Harsh Dubey, Varun Chakraborty, Prince Yadav, Yash Thakur, Ashok Sharma, Mayank Singh Yadav and Prabhas Yadav.