“To all those crying for Sanju Samson here, what do you have to say about Ashwin and Jaiswal?” read a comment below former national team vice-captain Shubman Gill’s Instagram post, which has become a virtual battlefield.
For the unversed, Gill, who missed out on the T20 World Cup squad, had posted a photo on his social media handles congratulating his colleagues, who became the first team in history to defend the T20 crown. However, wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson, who won the Player of the Tournament award, was missing from the photo. This irked a section of fans who alleged that a “jealous” Gill edited Samson out of the photo.
They were quick to weave theories about Gill being left out of the squad in favour of Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson—who were labelled “explosive” by the selectors. Samson had earlier lost the opening slot to Gill, but his redemption on the biggest stage of them all is not good news for the Punjab star, who is considered the 'next big thing' in Indian cricket.
With the IPL season around the corner, CSK-affiliated handles also mass-commented on the post with GIFs that showed Samson in yellow colours. Others used Samson’s iconic celebration after leading India to a win against the West Indies and captain Suryakumar Yadav bowing before the Kerala batter after his exceptional innings.
However, fans of Gill and his Gujarat Titans franchise later joined the debate, arguing that Gill didn’t crop out Samson but ended up choosing a photo in which he was lost behind other stars. Other Indian players, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ravichandran Ashwin, had also used the same image, they pointed out. Both Ashwin and Jaiswal are close to Samson, as they were teammates at Rajasthan Royals.
Although the same photo was used by Ashwin, the veteran spinner mentioned Samson in the caption, hailing his contribution to the team. He wrote that Samson stayed calm, classy, and always carried the hopes of so many fans with grace. Jaiswal, meanwhile, had only mentioned captain Yadav and coach Gautam Gambhir in his post.
"Congratulations to the boys and congratulations to all the support staff who work so much behind the scenes! Back-to-back champions—what a day! Special mention to @surya_14kumar and @gautamgambhir55 sir for the way they have led the team to this historic victory. Jai Hind," it read. Fans were quick to make similar observations, asking the youngster why he could not have picked a photo in which his former captain was visible.
