Former Indian batter Subramaniam Badrinath has questioned the team management for backing Tilak Varma and dropping Sanju Samson amid the T20I series against England. Varma has struggled to get going against the spinners and managed only three runs off 11 deliveries in the third T20I at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.
On the other hand, Sanju Samson was dropped after he returned with scores of 5, 0 and 1 in his last three T20I innings. Samson was the star of the show in the T20 World Cup as he amassed 321 runs in five games and scored runs in knockout matches.
The Kerala batter also had a decent run in IPL 2026, scoring 477 runs in 14 matches for CSK.
Badrinath said on his YouTube Channel, “Tilak Varma has been woeful against spin in T20Is this year. He is averaging less than 23 and striking at just 91. But he remains in the side, which makes me want to ask, ‘Is there double standards in the Indian team?’. Samson is dropped after very few failures but Tilak has been consistently struggling against spin, yet, keeps getting picked.”
“Tilak Varma has been woeful against spin in T20Is this year. He is averaging less than 23 and striking at just 91. But he remains in the side, which makes me want to ask, ‘Is there double standards in the Indian team?’. Samson is dropped after very few failures but Tilak has been consistently struggling against spin, yet, keeps getting picked.”
On the other hand, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has returned with scores of 14 and 13 in his first two matches. The former CSK batter, Badrinath, is hopeful that we are not hyping the youngster too early.
“I hope we have not just hyped Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. He has had a great start and is a phenomenal hitter. But suddenly it’s starting to look like Jofra Archer is sorting him out. I hope he hasn’t been hyped too early because such players peak higher than others when the form is good. But the dip is also sharper for such players when the form is bad,” said Badrinath (via the aforementioned source).
The fourth T20I between England and India will be played at Bristol, County Ground on Thursday.
