Gautam Gambhir Faces Fans' Wrath On Social Media As Sanju Samson Gets Dropped From 3rd T20I

India captain Suryakumar Yadav announced a plethora of changes to the team for the 3rd T20I against Australia on Sunday. Having suffered a thumping defeat in the previous match, India made three changes to the playing XI, dropping Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav, and Harshit Rana.

Samson, who was forced to adjust his game as a middle-order batter, had struggled for form ever since the team management made its decision to back Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill as the opening duo clear. Samson looked uncomfortable in the middle order throughout the Asia Cup 2025. Before being dropped from the Hobart T20I, his last five scores were: 56, 13, 39, 24, and 54. Since being shifted to the middle order, Samson's strike rate took a massive hit, averaging only 106.95 over those five games.

Seeing Samson dropped, fans went berserk on social media, blaming both head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Suryakumar Yadav.

Gautam Gambhir & BCCI have officially finished Sanju Samson career for Tuk Tuk Shubman Gill #ShubmanGill #INDvsAUS #AUSvIND #SanjuSamson #bccideshdrohi #Indvaus #AUSvsIND pic.twitter.com/ZtBHN4WZt5

— (@AURAICTT) November 2, 2025

“Sanju Samson is the first player to be dropped after performing well as an opener. Then you put him in the middle order, where his performance is average, and after that, you drop him for BCCI's damad, Shubman Gill.”
What a politics by Gautam Gambhir. pic.twitter.com/KeYlImsMw1

— Nitin Kushwaha (@nitinkumar67521) November 2, 2025

To include Shubman Gill in the team

Dropped player like Jaiswal from the team

Dropped Sanju Samson after scoring 3 centuries in T20I.

Shame on you Gautam Gambhir and Surya Kumar. pic.twitter.com/4XikgwOGzN

— Dhruv Thakur (@Dhruv_Thakur___) November 2, 2025

Samson's replacement, Jitesh Sharma, on the other hand, is a specialist T20 middle-order batter. His renowned finishing skills earned him a spot in the India squad. If Jitesh performs well for India in the Hobart T20I, it would become difficult for Samson to earn back his place in the team.

After winning the toss, Suryakumar did not explicitly explain the changes in the team. He said, "We are going to bowl first. The ball will come on nicely to the bat in the second innings. Happy to take it one game at a time. We have three changes - Jitesh, Arshdeep, and Washington come in."

At the toss, Australia captain Mitchell Marsh said, "It's a belter of a wicket. We want to get off to a good start and post a big total. We have just the one change - Abbott is in for Hazlewood."

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Australia Cricket Team Jitesh Sharma Sanju Samson Gautam Gambhir Suryakumar Yadav Australia vs India 2025 Cricket