‘Sanju’s talent itself is enough for him to be in the team; not fair if Gill doesn't get...’: Gambhir

New Delhi: India head coach Gautam Gambhir revealed that dropping Sanju Samson—who was named player of the tournament during India's victorious T20 World Cup campaign on home soil—for the recent tour of England was "probably the toughest decision" of his coaching career.

Following a brief stretch of low scores, Samson was left out to facilitate the much-anticipated international debut of prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi during the T20 series in England. However, the team management reinstated the proven opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Samson for the subsequent series against Afghanistan, where Samson responded with two half-centuries in a dominant 3-0 sweep.

"First of all, he doesn't need to give me any credit (for proper communication when he wasn't playing). His talent itself is enough for him to be in the dressing room. He's shown what he's capable of. Someone doesn't become a player of the tournament in a World Cup without not having the talent. So he's done enough," Gambhir stated during the post-series press conference.

Addressing the rationale behind the brief omission, Gambhir noted: "Obviously, it was tough (dropping Samson). Probably the toughest decision I've taken in my coaching tenure is obviously leaving him out in that England series, because obviously, the way he's performed before that. But again, sometimes you go with players' form as well."

Gambhir clarified that Sooryavanshi will need to remain patient for his next opportunity in the national setup.

"In this series, we were always very clear that we want to go back to the combination that we had during the World Cup, because those guys, after three or four failures, do not become bad players," Gambhir said. "And the kind of cricket we've played - if a team that has gone unbeaten from one World Cup to the other World Cup and has won the World Cup - suddenly, it doesn't become a bad team after one or two series. These guys do not become bad players after two or three failures. That is what we said."

"From Vaibhav's point of view, it was again a very clear conversation that he has to wait for his opportunity. We know the kind of talent he has. We know what he can do," he added.

The head coach emphasised that long-term track records take precedence over short-term form when establishing team hierarchy.

"But again, someone who's done extremely well over a period of two years obviously will always be ahead of someone who's just come into the team. So, whenever he gets that chance, he will get a longer run as well. And that is what Indian cricket is all about. We want competition. We want that talent in the dressing room. But sometimes that's how cricket goes. Whether you're a 15-year-old or a 30-year-old, when you have to wait for your opportunity," Gambhir remarked.

Concerns over Player Availability for Captain Shubman Gill

Gambhir also expressed concern over frequent player breakdowns and workload management, an area where the BCCI Centre of Excellence has recently faced scrutiny.

Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill has rarely had access to a full-strength side during the early phase of his leadership. Key speedster Jasprit Bumrah missed the Test tour of Sri Lanka due to injury, while all-rounder Hardik Pandya has remained sidelined since the IPL in May.

"If I can be completely honest, then yes. In Test cricket and one-day cricket especially, you want your best players to play as much as they can because the next year's World Cup is in the 50-over format," Gambhir asserted. "And more importantly, it's not fair on a young captain (Gill) as well if he doesn't get the best team playing consistently and regularly, and , and not being on the path consistently."

"If I have to be dead honest, yes. As a coach, I can take all the criticism, but for me, I think it is important for Shubman to get the best playing 11 as many times as he can in red-ball and in white-ball formats," Gambhir added.

Looking ahead to the home ODI series against the West Indies, India will be without Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, and Jasprit Bumrah due to their commitments at the Asian Games. Gambhir acknowledged that fielding a depleted squad is less than ideal with the 50-over World Cup just a year away.

"Obviously, we know that it's not ideal when you're preparing for a World Cup which is in a year's time. But again, the Asian Games squad was selected long back, and sometimes it's difficult for the selectors when they have to put the best squad in place," Gambhir explained. "So, we always knew that if the frontline players go to the Asian Games, we will probably have to compromise a bit in the one-day series against West Indies. But again, it gives other people the opportunity as well."

"And obviously, in a series like this, you've got young guys like Naman Dhir, Aauqib Nabi, getting those opportunities in the squad. So they can also show what they bring in the white-ball format. And obviously, the bigger the pool, the better it is for us. Normally, when you have all the players available, sometimes new players might not get that opportunity. But now with people like Auqib and Naman, these guys will get that opportunity. So on one hand, it's good. But on the other hand, obviously, we want the best players," he concluded. (PTI)