India made a notable change for the fifth and final T20I against England in Southampton, leaving out teenage opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after a quiet start to his international career. Experienced wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson returned to the playing XI in his place.
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The move comes with India trailing 0-3 in the five-match series and looking to finish on a positive note.
Sooryavanshi, who became the youngest player to represent India in the second T20I in Manchester last week, was caught wanting against the short ball in the last two matches at Nottingham and Bristol. Opening the batting in his first three internationals, the left-hander managed 15, 13 and 14.
India won the toss and elected to field first in the final game of the series. Captain Shreyas Iyer said that he wanted the players to go in with a ‘solid mindset’ and not sulk about the results so far.
“We are going to bowl first. The wicket won’t change much. We have seen everything in this series, we are up for the challenge. I just the players have a solid mindset, rather than sulking. Need to be in the moment, and stop thinking about what has happened. We have two changes. Shedge comes in for Washington, Sanju comes in for Sooryavanshi,” Iyer said at the toss.
Samson was dropped after the first T20I, with Sooryavanshi coming in his place. A few days later, the 31-year-old was also left out of the squad for the three-match T20I series in Zimbabwe.
India will now hope Samson’s return adds stability to a batting line-up that has struggled throughout the series. For Sooryavanshi, the first three matches offered valuable exposure rather than defining his career. At 15, time remains firmly on his side, and this brief break before the Zimbabwe tour could prove an important part of his development rather than a step backwards.
