Why Sanju Samson has been dropped for India’s tour of Zimbabwe? Fresh report reveals real reason…

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a 15-member squad for the Indian team’s upcoming 3-match T20I series in Zimbabwe later this month and the most notable omission from the list was wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson.

Despite being named the Player of the Tournament during India’s successful ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign earlier this year, Sanju Samson was shockingly left out of the squad. He is currently dealing with a poor run of form which has seen him score less than 10 runs across his last three innings. 

He got out for 5 and 0 in Ireland before scoring just 1 run in the series opener against England on July 1. Sanju Samson was subsequently dropped for the 2nd T20I as the Gautam Gambhir-led team management decided to hand teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi his debut cap. 

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This sparked plenty of reactions from fans as well as some former cricketers, who remained confused about Samson’s exclusion. However, a fresh report has revealed the major details for his omission from the tour of Zimbabwe.

According to reports, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee opted to rest Samson only because they view the short Zimbabwe tour as an experimental series to test out young and upcoming players in order to build bench strength.

Instead of carrying senior cricketers for the low-profile tour, the selectors have handed a maiden international call-up to uncapped Punjab Kings opener Prabhsimran Singh. Prabhsimran earned his spot as the secondary wicketkeeping option alongside Ishan Kishan after a strong Indian Premier League season where he scored over 500 runs over the last two seasons.

The management felt that keeping a senior player like Samson on the bench during a development tour would make little sense. But it could be a good exposure tour for Prabhsimran Singh ahead of future bilateral assignments.

Another major factor behind the decision is workload management and prior commitments. Samson has played continuous cricket over the past six months. Furthermore, he has already been selected as a key part of the Indian squad for the upcoming Asian Games scheduled for September.

Since he is heavily in the frame for that tournament, the team management decided to give him a necessary break alongside other key regulars like Axar Patel and Arshdeep Singh, who are also being rested after a grueling schedule.

While those inside the BCCI feel that Samson has been rested rather than permanently dropped, his recent dip in individual form during the ongoing tours of Ireland and England also played a role in his immediate exclusion from the playing eleven.

With Ishan Kishan firmly established as the first-choice keeper for the Zimbabwe matches, the selectors found it the right time to give Samson a break and let Prabhsimran show what he can do at the international level. It will also be interesting to see whether Sanju Samson is reintegrated into India’s playing XI for the remainder of the 5-match T20I series in England.