Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth questioned the team management for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s absence from the first T20I against Afghanistan. India’s think tank backed Sanju Samson ahead of Sooryavanshi and the right-hander opened the innings with Abhishek Sharma in the series opener on Sunday.

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.

Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel, “Yesterday, because Sooryavanshi didn’t play, we started watching a movie. My wife was shouting that Sooryavanshi didn’t play and started arguing that someone who was the Player of the Match in the last match isn’t playing. Even my wife is questioning his exclusion. You are not treating Sooryavanshi properly. Now, if he plays the next match, he’ll wonder whether he’ll be dropped if he doesn’t score.”

He added, “These are sending wrong signals, and you are creating doubts in all the players’ minds. Sooryavanshi has scored at every level from Duleep Trophy, T20Is, for India-A and the IPL. You should be promoting him. There was a huge crowd at Chepauk Stadium only to watch him play on Day 1. After that, no one went. So the entire world is watching when he plays. If you are discouraging such a player, it’s not right.”

On the other hand, the 1983 World Cup-winning player also questioned the management for mishandling Sanju Samson. The Kerala batter returned to the team after he was left out of the series against Zimbabwe.

“This team management is playing around with Sanju Samson. I pity Samson. Either you give him an extended run and then drop him or give Vaibhav Sooryavanshi a run of matches without dropping him. The mistake India are making is both are getting two matches here and there. That’s not good for the player,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

The former selector urged the team to not make continuous changes between Samson and Sooryavanshi.