New Delhi: The national selection committee has decided to keep Sanju Samson on the bench for the three-match T20I series in Zimbabwe on July 23. Ishan Kishan will be the chief keeper while Prabhsimran Singh has received his maiden call-up. TOI understands that the selectors are just resting Samson for now to provide more opportunities to the stand-in players.Sources told TOI that the move is to give teenage star Vaibhav Sooryavanshi more exposure at the top level and the series against Zimbabwe is a perfect opportunity. BCCI also shares the same view. “It will look strange if a senior player like Samson misses the tour. One has to remember that Samson has already been included in the Asian Games squad as he will be playing in the last week of September. Ishan is the first choice goalkeeper of the team management. Because this is where the standards drop. BCCI sources told TOI that the team needs good fielders, not wicketkeepers. “The tour of Zimbabwe has been used to check the bench strength over the past decade. Washington Sundar, Axar Patel and Harshit Rana have all been rested. The bowling line-up has a new look,” the source added.The Board of Directors is committed to giving Sooryavanshi as much international exposure as possible. The Indian team management gave the 15-year-old his international debut in place of Samson in the second T20I against England in Manchester on Saturday.Hitters who need a specialist positionApart from three match-winning wickets in the T20 World Cup-winning campaign in March, Samson’s consistency has always been questionable. He has scored just one run in his last three T20 matches in Ireland and England. The selectors and team management feel that playing Samson and Ishan at the same time has squeezed the entire middle order out of their place. Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube and Axar Patel didn’t bat at their spots, which affected the returns for Varma and Axar who were out of their comfort zone. The selectors are looking at strengthening the lower-mid order to achieve better results in the T20 teams.
