Out-of-favour Indian middle-order batter Hanuma Vihari has slammed the Indian team management, headed by Gautam Gambhir, for giving a longer rope to the Indian opening batter Abhishek Sharma despite his poor form in T20Is.
Speaking exclusively on his YouTube channel, Vihari has questioned the team management for dropping Sanju Samson from the XI after a string of low scores. At the same time, his colleague Abhishek is being given a long rope despite not posting big scores of late.
It’s worth noting that Sharma’s scores in his last 10 innings read 49, 0, 59, 43, 10, 16, 3, 1, 8 and 2. On the other hand, Samson, who was the player of the tournament in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, has been axed for the Zimbabwe tour after he had put up a few low scores.
“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,” Hanuma Vihari said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“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. 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?” he questioned.
Indian T20I side will next take part in the Asian Games 2026 campaign in September this year.
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