India, Sept. 23 -- Some selection calls are settled by numbers while others follow a coach out of the dressing room, remain with him long after the team meeting has ended, and refuse to disappear when the lights go out. For Gautam Gambhir, one such decision involved Sanju Samson and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. On one side stood a batter whose performances had earned considerable credit within the India T20 setup; on the other was a prodigiously gifted youngster whose form had become increasingly difficult to overlook. It was not simply a question of choosing between two players, but of deciding how long past achievement should protect as cricketer when someone outside the XI is demanding admission through present form.

Gautam Gambhir has now r...