Sanju Samson, India’s 2026 T20 World Cup hero, has been left out as the BCCI announced a 15-member squad for the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe later this month. The matches will be played in Harare on July 23, 25 and 26, but Samson, who was adjudged Player of the Tournament just four months ago after scoring 321 runs in four innings, has not been included. The BCCI has not clarified whether he has been rested or dropped, but the selectors have retained 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
The squad sees several changes from the one currently touring England. Samson is joined by Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi and Prasidh Krishna among those left out. Returning to the squad are left- handed batter Rinku Singh, wicketkeeper batter Prabhsimran Singh, pacers Ashok Sharma and Yash Thakur, and left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey, who recently featured against Afghanistan.
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The BCCI has also made one change to India’s ODI squad for the ongoing England series, replacing Nitish Kumar Reddy with fellow all-rounder Shivam Dube. The series also marks a maiden India call-up for Prabhsimran Singh, who has been knocking on the doors of the national team for quite some time. He scored 549 runs for Punjab Kings in the 2025 IPL before following it up with another 510 this year. More recently, Prabhsimran played a key role in India A’s win in the 50-overs tri-nation series in Sri Lanka, scoring a crucial 84 against Afghanistan A.
Samson’s ouster is sure to spark debate. He played three T20Is for India after the IPL, registering scores of 5, 0 and 1, before being replaced by the young sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the second T20I against England in Manchester. Whether Samson features in the remaining matches of the England series remains to be seen, but with tours of Zimbabwe historically used to blood young players, his omission is likely to be a temporary move.
While India have enjoyed the upper hand against Zimbabwe, leading the head-to-head 11 to 3 in T20Is, the world champions were stunned in 2024 in their first T20I after lifting the World Cup in Barbados on June 29. The most recent meeting between the two sides came in the T20 World Cup Super-Eights clash, where India crushed Zimbabwe by 72 runs.
India’s squad for Zimbabwe T20I series:
Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma (Vice-captain), Ishan Kishan (Wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Rinku Singh, Harsh Dubey, Varun Chakravarthy, Prince Yadav, Yash Thakur, Ashok Sharma, Mayank Yadav, Prabhsimran Singh (Wicketkeeper)
