Gautam Gambhir, Shreyas Iyer Advised Solution To Fit Vaibhav Sooryavanshi And Sanju Samson Together In India's XI vs NZ

India will face New Zealand for the fifth T20I of the five-match series on November 1 Sunday. The visitors have already sealed the series with a 3-1 lead and could use the final match to experiment with their playing XI.

One of the biggest selection questions is whether India can accommodate both Sanju Samson and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the same team. Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has suggested a way to include the young opener without making a major change to the team’s batting combination.

Dinesh Karthik Suggests Resting Arshdeep Singh

Karthik believes India should use the final T20I to give some players a break and test their bench strength. He suggested resting Arshdeep Singh, who has been India’s standout bowler in the series, and giving opportunities to Mayank Yadav and Prince Yadav.

He also backed Axar Patel’s inclusion, saying India could use the final match to see how another spinner performs in the given conditions.

“Because it is a game where we have won the series, I wouldn’t mind holding on to Axar and letting go of one of the pacers. I would go down the route of giving Arshdeep a break and using Mayank and Prince. Arshdeep has been outstanding as usual. He has been our best bowler in the series, and there is no harm in sitting him down to see what a spinner can do in these conditions,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.

Karthik Explains How India Can Accommodate Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

The other selection question revolves around Sooryavanshi and Samson. While Samson and Abhishek Sharma have featured in all four matches, Sooryavanshi got his opportunity after Ishan Kishan was ruled out of the second and third T20Is due to injury.

However, Kishan’s return to fitness meant Sooryavanshi missed the fourth T20I.

Karthik believes India should not look at Sooryavanshi’s inclusion as a direct competition with Samson. Instead, he suggested resting Abhishek Sharma if the team management wants to give the young left-hander another opportunity.

“I know the world will want Vaibhav to play. If they want to play Vaibhav, it has got to be in place of Abhishek, to give him a break, and that is how it should be. Every time there is anything related to Vaibhav, it is always Sanju. If you really want to fit in Vaibhav, Abhishek can take a break. The key word here is ‘break’,” Karthik said.