Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif was asked about the selection of Sanju Samson as the opener over Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to partner Abhishek Sharma in the recent first T20I between Afghanistan and India that was played in Delhi on September 13.

This question came after Sanju Samson managed only 10 runs in 8 balls in India’s chase of the 157-run target. However, Abhishek Sharma’s 32-ball 82 and Ishan Kishan’s 42 helped India win the game by 7 wickets, chasing down the target in 13.4 overs.

Samson was a surprise pick in this game, as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was benched for him by Indian team management. Notably, Sooryavanshi had slammed two fifties for India in the recent Zimbabwe T20I series, winning Player of the Series, and has been in good form in domestic cricket as well.

Samson, on the other hand, had a torrid time on the tours of Ireland and England and was excluded from the tour of Zimbabwe. Samson’s recall for the Afghanistan T20Is and Asian Games 2026 has left the Indian team with a major selection dilemma over their opening combination.

“What did Sanju do in between to get a chance today? Usually, when you are dropped, you play here and there and regain some form; nothing like that has happened. Why did he get a chance? That’s a massive question. Why did not you go with the same combination after Vaibhav scored runs in Zimbabwe? That’s another question,” Kaif said on Cricbuzz.

“In my opinion, they are hesitating a bit; they are unsure of what their best opening combination is. The Indian team is still thinking about it. Vaibhav must be saying, "What did I do wrong?" Kaif added.

Earlier, Shreyas Iyer had won the toss and invited Afghanistan to bat first. Arshdeep Singh stifled Afghanistan's top order with 3/19. It was only because of 64* by Azmatullah Omarzai and 33 by Mohammad Nabi that Afghanistan made 156/8 in 20 overs.