'When will BCCI recognize him' - Fans trend 'Justice for Sanju Samson' after New Zealand T20I snub

Despite a host of first-choice players rested, the squad had no place for Samson.

By Pratyay Tiwari

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Sanju Samson. (Photo Source: Twitter)

A Twitter hashtag “JusticeforSanjuSamson” has started to trend ever since the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 16-member squad for the team’s upcoming home series of three T20Is against New Zealand, which had no place for Kerala batter Sanju Samson, despite the squad missing a host of first-choice players, who have been rested after being a part of a packed schedule over the last year.

Samson, who is currently leading Kerala in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, has been in decent nick in the tournament, having struck a couple of unbeaten half-centuries, while he also had an impressive run in the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League with the Rajasthan Royals, as he tallied 484 runs at 40.33, striking at 136.72, with a couple of half-centuries and a century.

The last Samson was a part of the Indian set-up was during the Sri Lanka tour in July, when a second-string squad travelled for a limited-overs series, while all of India’s first-choice players were in the United Kingdom for the World Test Championship final and the subsequent five-Test series against England. Samson failed to make much of an impact, with scores of 27, 7 and 0 in the three T20Is, followed by 46 in his maiden ODI before missing out the following two after being deemed a close contact of Krunal Pandya, who tested positive for Covid-19.

As for the New Zealand squad, the selectors have named two wicketkeeping options in Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan, both of whom were a part of India’s T20 World Cup squad, where the team’s campaign ended in the Super12. Several players from that squad have been rested, including first-choice players Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, while other absentees include Hardik Pandya, Shardul Thakur, Rahul Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy.

The series will also mark the return of Yuzvendra Chahal, who was surprisingly excluded from India’s T20 World Cup squad despite an impressive UAE leg of the IPL with RCB, while Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Chahar, who were the travelling reserves with the Indian team at the T20 World Cup, are back too, as are Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj.

Impressive IPL performers Venkatesh Iyer, Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan have been rewarded with a maiden call-up, while Ruturaj Gaikwad, who won the Orange Cap at the tournament this year, has also been included.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

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