Gautam Gambhir says dropping Sanju Samson was toughest coaching decision

India head coach Gautam Gambhir described dropping Sanju Samson from the England series as probably the toughest decision of his tenure. Samson returned for the Afghanistan series and scored successive half-centuries.

Gambhir said the side reverted to the World Cup opening combination of Abhishek Sharma and Samson because established players do not become bad after a few failures. He told teenage batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi he must wait for his next opportunity.

India will play Japan in a one-off T20I on 22 September before their Asian Games campaign begins. Sooryavanshi remains in the squad but has not featured since the Zimbabwe series.