‘He Should’ve Led the Side in Absence of Seniors’: Tharoor Questions Samson’s Omission from AUS T20Is

Sanju Samson’s omission from India’s T20I squad has once again led to a massive uproar on social media. The BCCI on Monday announced the squad for the 5-match series, starting Thursday in Vizag, which saw uncapped Jitesh Sharma getting a spot as the second wicketkeeper-batter after Ishan Kishan. Sharma’s selection sidelined Sanju who has been in and out of the team in the recent past.

Samson’s omission did baffle many and Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor has now slammed the decision to not include the Kerala-born in the T20I squad.

Shashi Tharoor, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, also felt that in the absence of senior players, Sanju Samson should have led the Indian team against Australia in the upcoming series. He further asked why spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was not named in the India squad.

“This is truly inexplicable. Sanju Samson should have not just been selected, he should have led the side in the absence of all the seniors. His captaincy experience with Kerala and Rajasthan Royals is more current than SKY’s. Our selectors need to explain themselves to the cricket-loving public. And why no Yuzvendra Chahal either,” Shashi Tharoor posted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

After competing in the World Cup 2023 final, India and Australia are set to renew their rivalry in a T20I series scheduled to start on Thursday. India, under the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav, will feature in a five-match T20I series against the newly crowned world champions.

Only three cricketers from India’s World Cup final playing XI will take part in the T20I series against the Aussies and young players like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar and many more will get a chance to prove their mettle in the shortest format of the game. Despite several new faces earning their call-up, experienced wicketkeeper Sanju Samson did not find a place in India’s T20I squad.

The Indian cricket team will play the first T20I against Australia in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. The fifth and final T20I of the series is scheduled to be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on December 3.

India’s squad for Australia T20Is: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.