Sanju Samson left out of India's T20I squad for Zimbabwe tour

Samson’s absence from the Zimbabwe series is curious only because he is part of the full-strength Indian squad for the 2026 Asian Games which will be held in Japan in September. While the BCCI did not state a reason for Samson’s exclusion – whether he was rested or dropped – he was among six changes to the T20I squad that is currently playing the five-match series in England. Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Washington Sundar, and Ravi Bishnoi were the other players not included in the 15-member group – led by Shreyas Iyer – going to Zimbabwe.

Middle-order batter Rinku Singh and fast bowler Mayank Yadav made comebacks to the T20I squad, while wicketkeeper-batter Prabhsimran Singh, fast bowlers Yash Thakur and Ashok Sharma, and left-arm spin allrounder Harsh Dubey got their maiden T20I call-ups.

Dubey’s selection means he has now broken into all three squads. He was earlier named in the Test squad against Afghanistan, but made his international debut in the subsequent ODI series against them last month. Prabhsimran, Thakur and Ashok were all part of India A’s victorious tri-series campaign in Sri Lanka.

Prabhsimran was the highest run-getter for Punjab Kings at IPL 2026, hitting 510 runs – all as an opener – at a strike rate of 168.87, while Ashok was impressive in the matches he played for Gujarat Titans. More than the wickets, his fastest delivery of the season – clocked at 154.2kph – got him noticed.

Kohli passes fitness test, Dube makes ODI comeback

Meanwhile, decks have also been cleared for Virat Kohli, who underwent a fitness assessment at CoE in the third week of June after he missed the Afghanistan ODIs at home due to a hamstring strain. Kohli passed his fitness assessment and was issued an RTP (return to play) certificate ahead of the England ODIs.

Kohli picked up the injury towards the back end of his victorious IPL 2026 campaign with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He finished the season as the fourth-highest run-getter, hitting 675 runs in 16 innings at a strike rate of 165.84, his best-ever in a single edition.

India’s ODI squad also features Shivam Dube, who replaces Nitish Reddy. The allrounder is still in rehab at the Centre of Excellence, and is hoping to recover from his quadriceps injury ahead of the Test tour to Sri Lanka in August. Dube hasn’t been in the ODI mix lately, having played the most-recent of his four ODIs in July 2024.

India’s ODI series in England ends on July 19 and they play the first T20I against Zimbabwe on July 23, followed by matches on July 25 and 26, all in Harare.

Samson’s absence from the squad follows him being left out of the playing XI for the second T20I against England at Old Trafford, where 15-year old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi became India’s youngest men’s debutant and opened the innings, scoring 14 off 10 balls. Samson had made scores of 5, 0 and 1 in two matches against Ireland in Belfast and the first T20I against England in Durham. Before IPL 2026, however, he had reeled off three consecutive half-centuries to lead India to the 2026 T20 World Cup title and was named the Player of the Tournament.

For Mayank, the call-up is a second chance in India’s T20I squad after he played three matches in 2024 following a breakthrough IPL season where he hit speeds in excess of 150kph. Since then, however, he has been extremely injury-prone and spent considerable time on the sidelines. He played only four matches for Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2026 and did not take a wicket, while conceding runs at 11.37 an over.

India T20I squad for Zimbabwe tour

Shreyas Iyer (capt), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma (vc), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Rinku Singh, Harsh Dubey, Varun Chakaravarathy, Prince Yadav, Yash Thakur, Ashok Sharma, Mayank Yadav, Prabhsimran Singh (wk).

India’s updated ODI squad for England tour

Shubman Gill (capt), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vc), KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar, Shivam Dube.

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