Srikkanth Criticises India’s Treatment of Sooryavanshi and Samson

Kris Srikkanth has voiced frustration at India’s decision to leave Vaibhav Sooryavanshi out of the side, arguing the young opener deserves a settled run.

The case for Sooryavanshi

Sooryavanshi was Player of the Series in India’s previous T20I series, against Zimbabwe, scoring 151 runs at a strike rate of 196.10. Even so, India began the Afghanistan series with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma at the top.

Srikkanth said the team should avoid repeatedly changing the opening pair and instead back Sooryavanshi over a longer period.

Concerns over Samson

He was also critical of how Samson has been handled, saying players need a sustained chance to establish themselves rather than being picked for a few games at a time. In his view, Samson has endured repeated changes in selection, while Sooryavanshi could lose confidence if he were dropped after one failure.

What happened in the opener

In the first match against Afghanistan, Abhishek Sharma scored 82, while Samson made 10 off 8 balls. Despite Sooryavanshi’s strong record in Zimbabwe, the management again went with a different opening combination.

The debate shows how closely India’s opening slots are being watched, with three capable batters competing for two places.