Dinesh Karthik, a former wicketkeeper for India, has advised the Indian team management to hold off on making Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's debut and instead continue with the struggling Sanju Samson.
While the young wonder continues to patiently wait on the sidelines throughout the Ireland and England trip, the wicket-keeping opening batsman has struggled greatly in recent games.
Sanju Samson was dismissed for just one run in the first T20I against England, which sparked a heated controversy about Team India's selection. This comes after 5 and 0 in two T20Is against Ireland.
The team management must make a crucial decision before the second T20I in Manchester since Sooryavanshi has only scored six runs in his last three games and is a hungry and in-form player who is just waiting to be let loose.
"Sanju Samson has, once again, had a bit of a failure. Now three innings on the bounce means the calls are coming nice and loud for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, but I would still say Sanju Samson, player of the tournament in the World Cup, is under pressure.
I know the whole cricketing world is going to be like, 'Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, when is he going to get in?' That is understandable, but I still hope they back someone like Sanju Samson, because, under pressure, in the World Cup, a few months ago, he got the job done, so we have to back him. Vaibhav needs to earn the right to play in this XI even though he is extremely talented, and I have no doubt he is going to do very well in international cricket," Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
Samson had an excellent T20 World Cup 2026, scoring 321 runs in just 5 innings, including two scores of 89 and one 97*. He won the Player of the Tournament for his amazing performance as India won the T20 World Cup 2026.
He also went on to have a relatively solid first season with his new franchise, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season.
In addition to Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, the recently chosen vice-captain, is another important batter who is having trouble with rhythm and form. The southpaw's problems were evident in the series opener against England, but he was far from impressive despite scoring a fifty in the second T20I against Ireland.
"Maybe Tilak Varma will feel the heat a little bit, just got a run-a-ball knock again. As a middle-order batter sometimes in England, it can be very challenging, and he felt it. He did not get the boundaries away," Dinesh Karthik concluded.
Tilak Varma was removed by Saqib Mahmood after scoring 13 runs per ball, including one boundary. With 294 runs at an average of 29.40 and a strike rate of 137.38 in 12 games, Tilak has had a lackluster 2026 in T20Is.
