2 min readUpdated: Jul 27, 2026 08:24 AM IST
Abhishek Sharma’s prolonged run of poor scores has led to criticism of the team management for their ‘unfair’ preference for the left-handed opener over wicket-keeper Sanju Samson, who was dropped from the T20I squad ahead of the Zimbabwe series that concluded on Sunday.
Out-of-favour India batter Hanuma Vihari questioned why Abhishek has received firm backing from the management while Samson was sidelined despite leading India to T20 World Cup glory with three back-to-back match-winning knocks.
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“Before the World Cup, Sanju Samson did not perform in five games and lost his spot in the starting 11. He then made a comeback and became Player of the Tournament. In that same tournament, how many runs did Abhishek Sharma make?
“In the UK series, apart from one fifty, there were no scores at all. Not even 20s and 30s, no significant score. One fifty in the last eight matches. If you include the World Cup, three half-centuries in the last 18 matches,” Vihari said on his YouTube channel.
In his last 10 innings since India’s tour to Ireland last month, Abhishek has registered only 191 runs with a solitary half-century. Notably, the southpaw has been dismissed on single-digit scores in his last four innings.
Vihari questioned why Samson has not received the same treatment during patches of poor form.
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“How many matches Samson played in the World Cup? Three. And fifties in all three. Abhishek’s highest score in the five matches is 16. Why is no one talking about it? When it comes to Samson, they say he is inconsistent. Fair enough. But he can win high-pressure matches on his day.
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“Abhishek is a player with a lot of hype, but Samson is also equal. He has also performed in the IPL. Why different rules for different players?”
The 31-year-old Samson, who was the World Cup’s Player of the Tournament, has featured in four innings in Ireland and England, scoring 33 runs.
