'Toughest Decision Of My Coaching': Gautam Gambhir Says Giving Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Debut Gave Him Sleepless Night

Gautam Gambhir, India's head coach, has opened up about the toughest decision of his coaching career, one that gave him a sleepless night. Talking ahead of the Indian home season, Gautam said that dropping Sanju Samson to hand Vaibhav Sooryavanshi his debut on the UK tour was his hardest call. He added that Sanju being the player of the tournament in the T20 World Cup earlier that year made the decision sting even more.

Sanju was dropped from the playing XI after England beat India in the first T20I of the series. Desperate for a win after losing a series against Ireland, the team management was forced to make a tough call on Sanju, who had failed in three consecutive matches, scoring 5, 0, and 1.

Consequently, the team management decided to hand Vaibhav his debut in the very next match at Manchester.

England Selection Call

Gambhir laid out the strain of that decision in an interview with JioStar ahead of India’s home season against the West Indies. He made clear that the call was both emotional and tactical.

“In two years of my journey, that was the only night I could not sleep and I told this to Sanju because I knew that it was probably the toughest decision in my coaching tenure in a T20 format because someone who was player of the tournament, and then you have to leave him out after three or four games.

And the reason was probably Vaibhav was in that kind of form as well, and we had to win the series,” Gambhir said.

He then explained why India changed course after the opening defeat in England.

“Because ultimately you are there and when you are playing for India, or when you are coaching India, you want to win each and every series possible. I had a very, very honest conversation with him and I told him that that is one of the reasons why, because Vaibhav was in that kind of form, and we needed someone to score runs at the top, we needed that little bit of a platform at the top as well. And he was fine with it. And that's a conversation which me and Sanju had, and he took it in good spirits,” he said.

Samson Returns Strong

The selection was later reversed. India returned home for a three-match T20I series against Afghanistan and Samson came back into the side at Sooryavanshi’s expense.

He responded at once. Samson hit back-to-back fifties as India swept the series 3-0.

Continuity Over Noise

Gambhir used the Samson episode to spell out his wider selection thinking. He said form matters, but it does not override trust built over a longer period.

“I know, it is (tough). But then, I made him understand that I know you're in good form, but sometimes with the players who have done well for a long time, you will have to wait for your opportunity,” he said.

He also rejected the idea that outside reaction shapes his team sheets.

“There’s one more thing - social media or outside noise doesn't decide the playing eleven. Playing eleven who, in that dressing room, or who the coach and captain feel can win us the match, or what is the best playing eleven, and who have done well for such a long time because if Vaibhav plays today, then it's going to be a tough conversation between me and whoever we leave out, whether it's Abhishek or Sanju,” Gambhir said.

“So we can't suddenly ignore that a combination that has created such an impact over the last one and a half or two years, that after three or four failures we drop them and play a young player who is very talented, who is also in very good form.

“So sometimes you will have to wait for your opportunity and we still want to create that security in that dressing room. Because it is very easy for me to take popular decisions, but it is probably the toughest thing for me to take the right decisions and we've taken the right decision of continuing with Sanju and Abhishek,” he explained.

Teenager Adds Pressure

Sooryavanshi’s rise has still added another layer to India’s T20I selection puzzle.

The teenager made his international debut in Manchester. Gambhir said India’s established combination cannot be discarded simply because a young player is performing well.

For Gambhir, continuity still carries more weight than noise around a new contender. “For two years, imagine, you imagine we won the World Cup - which team in the history of sport has gone undefeated from one World Cup to the other and gone on to win the World Cup?

“It didn't take these guys 17 years to win the second World Cup. It took these guys only 17 months to win the third World Cup. Suddenly one bad series or three bad games here and there does not make them a bad player or does not make us a bad side. So it was very important for us to have that continuity,” he said.