Image: Sanju Samson was dropped from India's T20I squad despite winning the World Cup Player of the Tournament award / © NDTV Sports
In the latest selection for India’s Zimbabwe tour, Sanju Samson was the biggest name missing from the 15-member T20I squad. The BCCI did not clarify whether the wicketkeeper-batter was rested or dropped, even though he remains part of India’s squad for the 2026 Asian Games. His exclusion comes after scores of 5, 0, and 1 in his last 3 T20I innings.
However, Samson had earlier enjoyed an outstanding T20 World Cup, scoring 3 consecutive fifties and finishing as the Player of the Tournament. Shreyas Iyer will lead India in the 3 match series, with Rinku Singh and Mayank Yadav returning to the squad. Punjab Kings opener Prabhsimran Singh, pacers Yash Thakur and Ashok Sharma, and all-rounder Harsh Dubey have received their first T20I call-ups. Prabhsimran earned his chance after scoring 510 runs in IPL 2026 at a strike rate of 168.87, while Ashok impressed with his pace, touching 154.2 kph during the tournament.
There was good news for Virat Kohli, who has recovered from a hamstring injury and is available for the ODI series against England. Shivam Dube has replaced the injured Nitish Kumar Reddy in the ODI squad. India will finish the England ODI series on July 19 before starting the Zimbabwe T20I series in Harare on July 23. The remaining matches are scheduled for July 25 and 26.