NEW DELHI: The national selection committee has decided to bench Sanju Samson for the three-match T20I series in Zimbabwe starting July 23. Ishan Kishan will be donning the role of lead wicketkeeper while Prabhsimran Singh has received a maiden call-up. TOI understands that the selectors have left Samson alone for now to give more opportunities to youngsters waiting in the wings.Sources told TOI that the effort is to give teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi more exposure at the top level and a series against Zimbabwe is a perfect opportunity to do so. BCCI is on the same page. “It is very strange to see when a senior player like Samson is sat out for the tour. It should be noted that Samson is already in the Asian Games squad due to travel in the last week of September. Ishan is the chosen wicketkeeper for managing the team. As it is the fielding where the standards fall. The team needs good fielders, not fill-in wicketkeepers,” a BCCI source told TOI. “In the last decade, tours of Zimbabwe used to check the strength of the bench. Washington Sundar, Axar Patel and Harshit Rana were given breaks. The bowling lineup has a new look,” added the source.The board is for giving Sooryavanshi as much international exposure as possible. The Indian team management handed the 15-year-old his international debut in place of Samson in the second T20I against England in Manchester on Saturday.Batters are needed at specialist positionsApart from three knock-defining knocks in the T20 World Cup campaign in March, Samson’s consistency has been questionable. He scored just one run in the last three T20Is in Ireland and England. The selectors and team management felt that the play of Samson and Ishan pushed the entire middle order out of their positions. Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube and Axar Patel did not bat in their positions and it affected the return with Varma and Axar watching from the comfort zone. The selectors are looking to strengthen the lower middle order for a stronger finish in the T20 team.