The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on Tuesday, announced their men’s squad for the upcoming ODI and T20I home series against Sri Lanka. India will play host to Sri Lanka in three T20Is and as many ODIs from January 03 to January 15.
The Men in Blue last squared off against the Islanders in July 2021, when a second-string Indian team travelled to Sri Lanka under the captaincy of veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan. And now, after a gap of 18 months, the two sides will renew their rivalry.
In the 16-member squad for the 50-overs rubber against the 1996 World Cup winners, the selectors made a few surprise calls as many high-profile players like Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar were dropped from the team, whereas Sanju Samson was given the desired break.
Samson and his wife Charulatha are set to be blessed with a baby, and, as per the media reports, this is the primary reason for the Kerala-lad skipping the Sri Lanka ODIs.
On Christmas eve, Samson also shared an adorable post on Instagram, dropping a hint about his wife’s pregnancy.
“The best Christmas gift is to realise the blessings we already have. A very merry Christmas from ours to yours,” he had captioned his post.
Samson played 10 ODIs and six T20Is for India in 2022. In the one-dayers, the right-handed batter scored 284 runs at an average of 70 and a strike rate of 103. In the series against South Africa, he came to bat in tough situations and took his side over the finish line. In T20Is, the 28-year-old showed versatility and flexibility by batting from number 3 to seven. He scored 177 runs in the 20-overs format this year at 44.75 , with the best score of 77 versus Ireland.
