'Sanju Samson is the reason Agarkar is even a selector' - Sadagoppan Ramesh’s huge claim ahead of ZIM vs IND 2026 T20Is

Former India opener Sadagoppan Ramesh slammed chief selector Ajit Agarkar and his team for leaving Sanju Samson out of India's squad for the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe later this year.

Samson was dropped from India's playing XI for the second T20I in the ongoing five-match series against England and replaced by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The wicketkeeper-batter lost his place in India's T20 setup to Prabhsimran Singh for the tour of Zimbabwe.

Ramesh said that Samson is one of the main reasons why Agarkar is still the chief selector. The cricketer-turned-expert stated that Samson putting in a Player of the Tournament-winning performance in the T20 World Cup and helping India retain the coveted title earned Agarkar a contract extension.

"The Agarkar, who dropped Samson, is in an extension period himself. His contract was to end in June but the T20 World Cup triumph helped extend his time. And it was Sanju, who played a major role behind that victory. So Sanju Samson is the reason Agarkar is even a selector in this extended period now. It is extremely harsh treatment to drop someone three matches after he was the Player of the Tournament in a World Cup," Ramesh said in a video on his YouTube channel.

Before India's trip to the United Kingdom, Samson stamped his authority in the T20 World Cup, registering scores of 97*, 89, and 89 in a virtual quarter-final against the West Indies, the semi-final against England, and the final against New Zealand, respectively. Ramesh questioned how Samson's last three scores of 5, 0, and 1 in the two T20Is against Ireland and the series opener against England made everyone forget his heroics in the T20 World Cup.

"In the semifinal and final, he had the opportunity to complete his century. But without thinking selfishly for personal milestones, he played for the team and got out. Such team-players should be the first ones backed," said Ramesh (via the aforementioned source).

"How can a player of the tournament in a World Cup be dropped from the squad after three failures? Out of those three innings, the entire team failed in two of them in Ireland. It looks like those who took these three innings forgot about his previous three innings that won India the World Cup," he added.