India, July 7 -- Sanju Samson's exclusion from the Zimbabwe T20I series has raised several unanswered questions. First and foremost: Was the Kerala batter dropped following his three consecutive failures in the UK-two matches against Ireland and the first of the 5-match series against England? If so, have his batting heroics from the T20 World Cup been forgotten? And, would it have any bearing on his place in India's 15-member Asian Games squad picked last month?

While the BCCI squad announcement press communication makes no mention, sources privy to selection matters say the idea to pick a number of fringe players to Zimbabwe had been discussed before India embarked on the UK tour. Samson is therefore one of the seven players to be rest...