Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has talked about getting criticism over his selection calls, especially Vaibhav Sooryavanshi being continuously benched in the T20Is. Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson have been the preferred opening combo for India, given their success in recent years.
According to Gambhir, there was indeed some conversation between him and the youngster, and he told the teenager about how tough it is for him to keep on providing opportunities to Sooryavanshi in the team.
"It was a new experience for me as well. Yes, he was in good form, but I made him understand that sometimes, because of the players who have done well for a long time, he will have to wait for his opportunity. And there's one more thing: social media or outside noise doesn't decide the playing eleven. It depends on who in that dressing room, or who the coach and captain feel can win us the match, or what is the best playing eleven, and who has done well for such a long time," Gambhir said on JioStar's 'Follow the Blues: Gautam Gambhir Unfiltered '.
Sooryavanshi was benched for the entire T20I series against Afghanistan, despite winning the Player of the Series in the last series he had played in Zimbabwe. Sooryavanshi recently played for India in the Asian Games 2026 in Japan.
Gambhir stated that it is difficult for him to play Sooryavanshi in the team, because it would mean dropping Abhishek or Samson, who have done well consistently in recent times.
"If Vaibhav plays today, then it's going to be a tough conversation between me and whoever we leave out, whether it's Abhishek or whether it's Sanju. So, we can't suddenly ignore a combination that has created such an impact over the last one and a half or two years, and after three or four failures, drop them and play a young player who is very talented, who is also in very good form. So, sometimes you will have to wait for your opportunity because we want to create that security in that dressing room,” Gambhir added.
Gambhir also discussed the pressure social media creates when it comes to selection but stated that it is easier for him to take 'popular decisions' but tougher to take the right ones.
"It is very easy for me to take popular decisions, but it is probably the toughest thing for me to take the right decisions. And we've taken the right decision of continuing with Sanju and Abhishek. And no team in the history of sport has gone undefeated from one World Cup to the other and gone on to win the World Cup again. Suddenly, one bad series or three bad games here and there does not make them a bad player or does not make us a bad side. So, it was very important for us to have that continuity," Gambhir stated.
(JioStar inputs)
