After record T20I defeat, India head coach Gautam Gambhir explains Sanju Samson’s England snub
3 min readUpdated: Jul 8, 2026 07:50 AM IST India head coach Gautam Gambhir opened up on the team’s decision to drop Sanju Samson from the playing XI during the ongoing England series to accommodate young sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi at the top of the order. Shortly after India were bundled out for a paltry 76 – their second-lowest score ever – in response to England’s 201 at Trent Bridge on Tuesday, Gambhir reviewed the decision to omit Samson from the batting order. The 125-run defeat marked the world champions’ first defeat by more than 100 runs. ALSO READ | Shreyas Iyer remains winless as India T20I captain after record 125-run defeat The head coach insisted that there was no “hard and fast rule” that would bar Samson’s comeback during the rest of the series after indifferent form starting with the Ireland series. After scores of 5 and 0 in the Ireland series, Samson fell for one run in the rain-affected first T20I against England in Chester-le-Street. Samson, who lit up India’s T20 World Cup only …
