Don't Miss

India's CWG 2026 Medal Tally Lowest In 24 Years, Yet Among The Best

Tactical Self-Destruction: How England Threw Away Their World Cup Final Dream

Bundesliga Blueprint: How Zee Plans To Complete India's Football Jigsaw

Manuel Neuer Doesn't Know Where To Stop: Not On The Pitch, Not In His Career

Advertisement

ENG

Login

Dark / Light mode

Oct 9,2026 11:21 PM IST

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Snubbed For First T20I vs Afghanistan In Big Verdict By Ex-India Star

facebook

twitter

WhatsApp

Settings

Select Language

Dark / Light mode

Search

Cricket

arrow-down reddit snapchat twitter facebook comments email printer search bell top-nav reddit-fill snapchat-fill twitter-fill facebook-fill share whatsapp-fill bookmark arrow-rgt arrow-next arrow-up refresh close link cog star book zap cricket football tennis formula-1 badminton hockey golf boxing ndtv-n check left-arrow right-arrow

Live Cricket Matches

India Matches

IPL 2026

Football Matches

ISL

EPL

All Matches

India Matches

EPL

Sports Home Cricket News Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Snubbed For First T20I vs Afghanistan In Big Verdict By ExIndia Star

Related Articles

Story ProgressBack to home

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Snubbed For First T20I vs Afghanistan In Big Verdict By Ex-India Star

The former India cricketer has backed T20I captain Shreyas Iyer to remain at number four and Sanju Samson to open the innings in the first T20I against Afghanistan.

Read Time: 3 min

facebook

twitter

WhatsApp

reddit

E-mail

File photo of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.© X/@BCCI

Former India cricketer and renowned commentator Vivek Razdan has backed India T20I captain Shreyas Iyer to remain at number four and Sanju Samson to open the innings in the first T20I against Afghanistan, scheduled for Sunday in New Delhi. India will begin their three-match T20I series against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, with a selection dilemma at the top of the order due to the presence of four opening options: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Samson and 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

Iyer, who bats at number three for Punjab Kings in the IPL, is another option in the top order, but Razdan believes the India captain should not alter his position for the series opener.

"I think Shreyas should not change his number at the moment. He should remain at number 4. Because for the top 3, you already have four names. You have Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, and Ishaan Kishan, but all three are left-handers. You already have many left-handers in your team. One should be included in the playing XI just because he is a right-hander - no! I do not agree with that at all," said Razdan.

Razdan, who was speaking during a press meet organised by Sony Sports ahead of the opening T20I, said a player's performance should take precedence over the left-right combination in the batting order.

"Who is that batsman? How has his performance been? This is very important. So, if I do not have a right-hander who has performed like this, then I will say you can play seven left-handers. Performance is the key. It is never a problem that you play with your left hand or right hand," he said.

The former India player then made a case for Samson to open, pointing to the wicketkeeper-batter's recent performances in T20 cricket.

Talking about Samson, he said, "You have a player who, just a few months ago, made more than 300 runs with a strike rate of 200 and won us the World Cup. So, he is a very good player."

Razdan acknowledged that captains often consider maintaining a left-right combination but felt Samson's performances warranted his inclusion at the top of the order.

"As a captain, sometimes you think about that left-right combination in batting. If all the left-handers play, it will be easy for their opponent to play the game holding the same line. Now, every player has his own importance, his own speciality, his own strength. So, I feel that while going into the first match, you should still play with Sanju Samson," he said.

India's top-order selection will be closely watched, with Abhishek, Kishan and Sooryavanshi also in contention for the opening slots. Sooryavanshi, 15, recently made his international debut in England and has emerged as one of the talking points ahead of the series.

The opening T20I will also mark Iyer's first home series as India's captain. Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy have returned after injury layoffs and are part of the squad.

Afghanistan, meanwhile, will be led by Ibrahim Zadran and will be looking for their first T20I victory over India. The two sides have met nine times in the format, with India winning eight and one match ending without a result.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Featured Video Of The Day

CWG 2026 Weightlifting Gold Medallist, Mirabai Chanu Get Hero's Welcome in Delhi

Topics mentioned in this article

Cricket India India Cricket Team Vivek Razdan Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Sanju Viswanath Samson Sanju Samson

Get the Latest Cricket, Asian Games 2026, Football , Hockey, Badminton Scores, F1 Results at NDTV Sports. Like Us On Facebook Or Follow Us On Twitter For More Sports Updates. You Can Also Download The NDTV Cricket App For Android Or iOS.

Advertisement

Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com

Advertisement

ICC Rankings

Advertisement

Now Trending

Advertisement

Trending Links

Follow us on:

facebook

twitter

Cricket

Football

More Sports

Formula 1 Tennis Hockey Badminton Golf Nba Kabaddi Shooting Swimming Table Tennis

This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics © Copyright NDTV Convergence Limited 2026. All rights reserved.