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Gambhir and Iyer under fire for benching Vaibhav Suryavanshi
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News18•18-10-2026, 12:51
Gambhir and Iyer under fire for benching Vaibhav Suryavanshi
- •Fifteen-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi had to sit out of the playing XI for all five T20 matches against the West Indies.
- •Captain Shreyas Iyer and head coach Gautam Gambhir preferred sticking with the opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson.
- •Discussions have sparked comparing this approach with former captain Sourav Ganguly's leadership style with youngsters.
- •Sourav Ganguly famously backed MS Dhoni with continuous opportunities despite early failures in his international career.
- •It remains to be seen if the team management will change their strategy and play Vaibhav on the upcoming New Zealand tour.
Key Questions Answered
Team management chose not to break up the preferred opening partnership of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, meaning Vaibhav had to sit out the T20 matches against the West Indies and Afghanistan.
Sourav Ganguly trusted Dhoni's talent and continued to give him regular opportunities across his first ten matches rather than dropping him after a few failures, which ultimately helped shape his career.
The Indian team is scheduled to play a five-match T20 series in New Zealand, and it remains to be seen whether Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer will alter their strategy to include Vaibhav.
