'Why are there no questions about Axar's absence in ZIM tour like it is for Sanju?' - Deep Dasgupta’s massive statement on DC captain

Deep Dasgupta opined that Sanju Samson was neither rested nor dropped from the Indian team for the tour of Zimbabwe. Instead, the former wicketkeeper-batter believes that he wasn't picked because India wanted to figure out how Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi would perform as an opening pair.

While Abhishek scored just 11 runs across the three games, Sooryavanshi slammed two half-centuries and eventually won the Player of the Match award.

Dasgupta stated that India have many other openers waiting for their chances like Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prabhsimran Singh, and Priyansh Arya.

"Even Axar Patel wasn't there for the Zimbabwe series. He's probably India's No.1 T20I spinner, yet, why are there no questions about his absence like it is for Sanju? India have too many options, especially with the emergence of Vaibhav Suryavanshi. He had to be picked and given an opportunity to see whether he is prepared for this level," said Dasgupta on his YouTube channel.

"Unfortunately only two openers can play. So this wasn't Sanju being rested or dropped. It was done as a trial to see which of the three opening combination works best. There are even other options like Shubman Gill, Sai Sudarshan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya that they've not tried," he added.

"Sanju should have played more in the previous series against England" - Deep Dasgupta

Samson was dropped after failing to perform in the two T20Is in Ireland and the first T20I in England. However, Dasgupta opined that the Kerala wicketkeeper-batter should have continued batting at the top of the order instead of making way for Sooryavanshi.

"Sanju should have played more in the previous series against England. It's important to give the 15 to 30 players in the reckoning for the next big tournament as much gametime as possible. That's the best way to form the ideal 15 just before a tournament," said Dasgupta (via the aforementioned source).

India will not be playing T20I cricket for quite some time now. Their next assignment is a two-match Test series against Sri Lanka next month. This will be followed by a three-match ODI series against the West Indies. Shreyas Iyer and Co. will return to T20I action when they face the West Indies in a five-match series in October.