'Are they testing his batting or his heart?' - Shashi Tharoor lashes out at selectors for dropping Sanju Samson

The selectors’ decision to drop Sanju Samson from India’s T20I squad for the upcoming series against West Indies has attracted widespread criticism and understandably so. Samson recently earned a well-deserved recall for the T20I series against Bangladesh earlier this month. It was his first recall from the national team since 2015.

But to everyone’s surprise, Samson did not get any chance to prove himself. Despite Virat Kohli not being a part of the squad, Samson did not get a chance in the middle-order as he warmed the bench throughout the three-match series. It was really baffling to see Samson sitting out in all the three games since he is one of the most sought after T20 players in the country.

Samson has done exceedingly well in the IPL in recent years. His performance in the domestic circuit is equally impressive. Just a couple of months ago, he scored a cracking List A double century for Kerala in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Shashi Tharoor disappointed

As soon as the selectors announced the squad, fans came out in numbers to slam them for dropping Sanju Samson. Senior Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor also could not help but react to the news. Tharoor, who has never shied away from throwing his support behind Samson, took to Twitter to express his feelings.

The Politician said that it was disappointing to see Samson facing the axe without getting a chance. He also pointed out that Samson only carried the drinks during the Bangladesh series, tweeting, “Very disappointed to see @IamSanjuSamson dropped without a chance. He carried the drinks for three T20Is & has been promptly discarded. Are they testing his batting or his heart?”

Very disappointed to see @IamSanjuSamson dropped without a chance. He carried the drinks for three T20Is & has been promptly discarded. Are they testing his batting or his heart? https://t.co/ydXgwOylBi

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 21, 2019

India, meanwhile, did a number of changes to the team that played against Bangladesh. Apart from Samson, spinner Rahul Chahar has been dropped too. Skipper Virat Kohli has also returned to lead the team after being rested for the Bangladesh series. India have also recalled Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav for the series.

Here is India’s T20I squad:

Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar