Sanju Samson, the wicketkeeper for Team India, finally got it into the playing XI on Wednesday at Chinnaswamy Stadium, replacing Jitesh Sharma in the dead rubber match against Afghanistan.
Samson is now fighting valiantly to earn a spot in India’s Twenty20 international team. The wicketkeeper-batter needs a significant knock to stay in the picture because Jitesh Sharma’s recent spectacular performances have overshadowed him.
In August 2023, Samson made his final Twenty20 International appearance while playing Ireland on the road. He participated in all five Twenty20 Internationals against the West Indies prior to then, but he was ineffective, managing only 32 runs in three innings.
He hit his first ODI century in the critical match against South Africa. He only played once for Kerala, where he earned 35 runs.
When Rohit Sharma, Team India’s captain, named Sanju Samson at the toss, the Chinnaswamy Stadium’s crowd roared. It shows that fans still trust the wicketkeeper-batter.
Here are a some of the Twitter responses to Samson’s selection for the third Twenty20 International against Afghanistan.
Sanju Samson has played 24 T20I matches since his debut in 2015
Since his 2015 debut versus Zimbabwe, the player hailing from Kerala has found a stable spot in international cricket elusive. His on-off career has allowed him just 24 T20I games till now.
In 21 innings, Samson accumulated 374 runs, boasting an average 19.68 and a strike rate of 133.57. In early 2023, during a match against Sri Lanka at home, an injury benched him for the rest of the series. Jitesh Sharma stepped in as his substitute, securing his position in the primary squad ever since.
After chasing in the previous two games of the series, Team India had won the toss and decided to bat first. In addition to Sanju Samson, players who were left out of the previous games, such as Kuldeep Yadav and Avesh Khan, were included in the starting XI. For the season finale, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, and Arshdeep Singh have all taken a break.
