Why Is Sanju Samson Not Playing Today's India Vs England 4th T20I?

Sanju Samson has once again not been picked in India’s 11 for the fourth T20I against England. The wicketkeeper-batter was seen warming up with the team and involved in a pre-toss conversation with head coach Gautam Gambhir, suggesting he was fit, which means the decision to leave him out was a tactical one.

Samson was left out of the playing 11 after the first T20I against England, with the team deciding not to back him after three consecutive single-digit scores. It led to a furor in the cricket fraternity, with some questioning why similarly out-of-form Tilak Varma was not dropped, as others cautioned that such treatment of the Player of the Tournament in the 2026 T20 World Cup would breed insecurity in the team.

Head coach Gautam Gambhir had

suggested that he would be open to bringing Samson back later in the series.

“The clarity Sanju Samson needed, I’ve already given that to him and that conversation will remain between the coach and the player,” Gambhir said after India crashed to their biggest defeat in T20Is in the second match on Tuesday. “As far as clarity is concerned, we are absolutely clear what Sanju has done for India during the World Cup has been phenomenal and sometimes you just have to look at the form as well of a certain player.”

“And there’s no hard-and-fast rule that he cannot make a comeback in this series. And more importantly, ultimately, international cricket is about results. So, whatever we feel is the best combination to give us the results, we play that combination, we play that playing 11, and that is what I’ve always been a big believer in: that everyone needs to earn their place. Everyone needs to earn the right to play for India,” he added.

There’s only one more T20I left after this, on Saturday. Samson is not part of the three-T20I series against Zimbabwe that’ll follow.

India’s playing 11 without Sanju Samson

India made two forced changes to the team, with Harshit Rana and Varun Chakaravarthy ruled out of the series.

India’s 11: Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (WK), Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Prince Yadav, Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna