NEW DELHI: The national selection committee has decided to bench Sanju Samson for the three-match T20I series in Zimbabwe starting on July 23. Ishan Kishan will don the role of the lead wicketkeeper while Prabhsimran Singh has received a maiden call up. TOI understands that the selectors have only rested Samson for now to give more opportunities to youngsters waiting in the wings.Sources told TOI that the endeavour is to give teen sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi more exposure at the top level and a series against Zimbabwe is a perfect chance to do so. The BCCI has been on the same page. “It will look very odd if a senior player like Samson is made to sit out on tour. One has to remember Samson is already in the Asian Games squad due to travel in the last week of September. Ishan is the preferred wicketkeeper for the team management. As it is the fielding where standards have dropped. The team need good fielders, not wicketkeepers filling in,” a BCCI sources told TOI. “Over the last decade, tours of Zimbabwe have been used to check the bench strength. Washington Sundar, Axar Patel and Harshit Rana have been given breaks. The bowling lineup is a new-look one,” the source added.The board is for giving Sooryavanshi as much international exposure as possible. The Indian team management handed the 15-year-old his international debut in place of Samson in the second T20I against England in Manchester on Saturday.Need batters in specialist positionsBarring the three match-defining knocks in the victorious T20 World Cup campaign in March, Samson’s consistency has been questionable. He scored just one run in the last three T20Is in Ireland and England. The selectors and team management feel that playing both Samson and Ishan has pushed the entire middle order out of their positions. Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube and Axar Patel are not batting in their positions and it has affected the returns with Varma and Axar looking out of comfort zone. The selectors are looking at bolstering the lower middle order for stronger finishes in the T20 team.
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