What is the story about?
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was left out of the India playing XI for the fifth T20I against England. This is the final game of the series, and India have already
lost the previous three games, making this a must-win to avoid a whitewash. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi had a great run in the IPL 2026, where he scored 776 runs and bagged the Orange Cap. He was fast-tracked to the Indian senior team and made his debut in the second T20I; however, he failed to make much of an impact and was dismissed for scores of 14, 13 and 15, respectively.
Who Replaced Vaibhav Sooryavanshi In India Playing XI?
Meanwhile, India included Sanju Samson in place of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Samson was left out of the XI to accommodate Vaibhav, but his below-par returns paved the way for Samson's return. After India dropped Samson to play Vaibhav, the team faced the wrath of fans for dropping Samson, who performed exceptionally well. Samson has got another chance, and he needs to make it count to cement a permanent place in the team. He has gone two innings in Ireland and one in England without making much of an impact.Meanwhile, India made one more change and dropped Washington Sundar for Suyansh Shedge.
On the changes in the team, Shreyas Iyer said that the team wants to see the what combination works best for them. "I feel this is the time we need to try what's best going forward for us as a team. So based on that, we decided this."
India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
England (Playing XI): Philip Salt, Jos Buttler(w), Harry Brook(c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Josh Tongue
