Sanju Samson dropped from India’s T20I squad for Zimbabwe series

Big omission

Samson, who has been in and out of India’s T20I setup, missed the cut despite recent IPL performances. Focus on youngsters + workload management. With senior players rested and the T20 World Cup cycle ongoing, selectors have gone for a younger squad and backup keepers/batters for the Zimbabwe series.Tour context. The Zimbabwe T20Is are seen as a chance to test bench strength. So several regulars have been rested/rotated.

Middle-order batter Rinku Singh and fast bowler Mayank Yadav made comebacks to the T20I squad, while wicketkeeper-batter Prabhsimran Singh, fast bowlers Yash Thakur and Ashok Sharma, and left-arm spin allrounder Harsh Dubey got their maiden T20I call-ups.

Dubey's selection means he has now broken into all three squads. He was earlier named in the Test squad against Afghanistan, but made his international debut in the subsequent ODI series against them last month. Prabhsimran, Thakur and Ashok were all part of India A's victorious tri-series campaign in Sri Lanka.

Prabhsimran was the highest run-getter for Punjab Kings at IPL 2026, hitting 510 runs - all as an opener - at a strike rate of 168.87, while Ashok was impressive in the matches he played for Gujarat Titans. More than the wickets, his fastest delivery of the season - clocked at 154.2kph - got him noticed.

Sanju Samson left out as India named a new-look T20I squad for Zimbabwe. His place in the T20I plans remains uncertain for now.

Kohli picked up the injury towards the back end of his victorious IPL 2026 campaign with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He finished the season as the fourth-highest run-getter, hitting 675 runs in 16 innings at a strike rate of 165.84, his best-ever in a single edition.

India's ODI squad also features Shivam Dube, who replaces Nitish Reddy. The allrounder is still in rehab at the Centre of Excellence, and is hoping to recover from his quadriceps injury ahead of the Test tour to Sri Lanka in August. Dube hasn't been in the ODI mix lately, having played the most-recent of his four ODIs in July 2024.