Gautam Gambhir’s selection calls have once again come under discussion, this time over Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s place in India’s T20I teamThe 15-year-old has already made a strong case for himself with his performances, but the Indian team management has continued to back the opening combination of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma.
Gambhir recently explained that Sooryavanshi was in good form, but that did not mean he would automatically get a place in the playing XIThe India head coach said he had personally spoken to the youngster and explained that sometimes a player has to wait when others have performed consistently for a long period.
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The issue became more noticeable after Sooryavanshi played a key role in India’s Asian Games campaignHe scored 38 off 21 balls in the semi-final against Sri Lanka before making 15 off nine balls in the final against PakistanHis performances added more weight to calls for his inclusion in the senior side.
However, Gambhir has made it clear that outside pressure will not decide India’s playing XIHe said social media and public opinion cannot dictate team selection, with the coach and captain responsible for picking the combination they believe gives India the best chance of winning.
Now, one of his former rivals in the Indian Premier League, Subramaniam Badrinath has weighed in on the conversationWhile speaking on his latest YouTube video, Badrinath claimed that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s selection was influenced by more than just his performances on the field.
He was reacting to Gautam Gambhir’s admission that dropping Sanju Samson was a difficult decision and that it even kept him awake at night.
“Gautam Gambhir made a statement that he could not sleep after dropping Sanju SamsonHe said that it was the most difficult decisionMaybe it must have been a difficult decisionAs a coach, there is a lot to seeVaibhav had a lot of media attention after that IPL season,” Subramaniam Badrinath said on his YouTube channel.
Badrinath acknowledged that selection is not easy for a coach, especially when several players are performing wellHowever, he felt the huge attention around Vaibhav after his impressive IPL season may have added to the pressure on the team management.
The teenager became one of the biggest talking points of the season, with fans and the media constantly discussing his chances of playing for India.
“He created a lot of hype, so the pressure does build irrespective of who the coach isMaybe in that pressure you make some decisionsSo I don’t think it was a cricketing decisionThere can be reasons beyond cricket as well,” Badrinath concluded.
