- By Sunny Daud
- Mon, 06 Jul 2026 06:16 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif slammed the Shreyas Iyer-led side's decision to leave out Sanju Samson and field a left-handed opening pair again. Kaif believes the team has repeated a mistake it had already corrected during its successful T20 World Cup campaign.
Samson was left out of the playing XI for the second T20I against England to make way for 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who made his international debut. The teenager scored 14 runs from 10 balls before being dismissed by off-spinner Will Jacks.
Jacks made the most of India’s top order, which had only one right-hander in the first seven batters. The England all-rounder gave away just 22 runs in his three overs and played a key role as England secured a four-wicket win to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
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Why left-handed opening pair might backfire for India?
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaif said India had faced a similar issue during the T20 World Cup when opponents targeted the left-handed opening pair with off-spin. According to him, Samson’s return during that tournament helped solve the problem by giving India a better right-left combination at the top.
“India is making the same mistake that they did in the World Cup. Ishan and Abhishek were opening. They got an off-spinner, and they started getting out. Till they did not get a big defeat, Sanju was not playing,” Kaif said.
“One right-hander and one left-hander is the right way to go, which we saw in the World Cup. We were struggling against off-spinners. But with Sanju coming in, that got solved. You are making the same mistake here. Abhishek and Vaibhav cannot be your long-term openers. You need to have a right-hander at the top,” he said.
Kaif also felt Samson should not be judged only on a few poor scores, saying the wicketkeeper-batter has shown over the years that he can produce match-winning innings.
“Sanju may have gotten 2-3 bad innings, but that is how he plays. Look at his career. He counters it and can make a big hundred. When he scores, he scores big.”
Samson to feature as opener, Abhishek or Sooryavanshi to move down to No. 3
The former India batter believes Samson should return to the opening slot, while either Abhishek Sharma or Vaibhav Sooryavanshi can move down to No. 3 to give the batting order more balance and defined roles.
“You will have to bring Sanju in. Either Abhishek or Vaibhav can play at three. There is no other choice. You will have to think long-term here. You don’t want a situation where we don’t know where someone will play, or the player does not know whether he will play or not, and there is no role clarity,” he said.