Former Pakistan wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal questioned Indian management for dropping Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the first T20I against Afghanistan on Sunday. Samson played ahead of Sooryavanshi and the right-hander opened the innings with Abhishek Sharma in the series opener.
Sooryavanshi has been in red-hot form as he scored 151 runs in three T20Is against Zimbabwe. Furthermore, the youngster scored 192 runs in five innings in the recently concluded Duleep Trophy for East Zone.
However, Samson was dismissed cheaply after scoring 10 runs off eight balls and was caught in the deep.
“One hundred percent (on whether India should have played their B team). Sooryavanshi does not sit out against this team. If you play them against England, you are dropping them against Afghanistan,” Akmal said on the Game Plan podcast.
“I think series like these help develop backup players. Whether it is MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma, they did not play against such teams. They would get three or four core players to rest. I don’t understand why Bumrah is playing, why Arshdeep Singh is not playing”.
On the other hand, Akmal said this series against Afghanistan will help India in developing backup players but questioned Jasprit Bumrah’s selection.
“I think series like these help develop backup players. Whether it is MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma, they did not play against such teams. They would get three or four core players to rest. I don’t understand why Bumrah is playing, why Arshdeep Singh is not playing,” Akmal said.
Akmal said India can afford to experiment against a team like Afghanistan as they have got a lot of bench strength.
“I think they had a lot of options. It is difficult for any team to play in India. This was the best chance for them to get new players. They should have prepared Sooryavanshi. We have been watching this for the last 12-15 years. You are making the whole team play against such teams,” he said.
The second T20I between India and Afghanistan will be played on Tuesday in Delhi.
