India are taking on Australia in a three-match ODI series starting, which began on September 22. KL Rahul has stepped in as the captain of the Men in Blue in the absence of the regular skipper Rohit Sharma, who will resume his leadership role in the final ODI scheduled for September 27 at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
Notably, despite the absence of stalwarts such as Rohit, Virat Kohli, and Hardik Pandya, the wicket-keeper batter, Sanju Samson, has not secured a spot in the Indian squad.
The right-hander boasts an impressive record of 390 runs in 12 ODI innings, maintaining an average of 55.71. Nevertheless, Ishan Kishan and Rahul have been preferred over him for the wicket-keeper batter’s position in the limited overs squad.
Former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa has recently opened up on Samson’s exclusion from the squad,expressing his disagreement with the Indian team management on the constant ignoring of the 28-year-old.
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‘I find it wrong to not have Sanju Samson in the squad’: Robin Uthappa
Uthappa admitted that Samson has been inconsistent in the T20Is but has done exceptionally well in the ODI format.
“I find it wrong to not have Sanju Samson in the squad. He has done well whenever he has gotten an opportunity in ODIs. Yes, he has been inconsistent in T20Is, but his performances in ODIs have been quite good. The justification would be that he won’t be in the XI, so why keep him in the squad?” Uthappa said in a Instagram video.
The former CSK-opener also mentioned that at least the Indian selectors should consider Samson to represent India in the Asian Games as he is not part of the Indian team’s further plans.
“But I think it is important to have continuity. In the case of Sanju, they haven’t done that. He was in the reserves for the Asia Cup but wasn’t picked for the Australia series. At least send him to the Asian Games. It is very normal to be dejected as a player when you don’t get support despite doing well.” the 37-year-old added.
