Sanju Samson: Sanju Samson is leaving no stone untoward to look in the best possible shape for the upcoming white-ball series against West Indies. The Rajasthan Royals skipper has been handed over a lifeline by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel and is been included in both ODI and T20 squads. With Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul missing from the Caribbean tour, it is a good chance for Samson to showcase his potential.
The wicketkeeper batter is in the scheme of things for the white-ball formats for India. In whatever limited chances he has got, Samson has grabbed them well. However, now it’s time to produce game-changing knocks as the Asia Cup and World Cup are around the corner. With Pant likely to be ruled out of both tournaments, Samson has a golden chance to make the transition of becoming a permanent member of the playing XI against out-of-form Windies.
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Sanju Samson: Samson aims to cash in on the lifeline provided by BCCI selectors, eyes to make wicketkeeping spot his own
Apart from Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan is another wicketkeeper batter in the squad for the ODI and T20 squads against West Indies. It would be a toss-up between these to get the wicketkeeping duties. With Kishan having made his Test debut against West Indies in the first Test, logic suggests that the southpaw would be preferred over Samson.
The only thing that might go against Kishan is he failed to get going in the middle order during the last ODI series against New Zealand, with scores 5, 8*, and 17.
If India are looking for a solid finisher in the ODI format, then the right-hand batter might get a look into the squad.
In the 11 ODI matches that Samson has played, he has scored 330 runs at an average of 66. During these games, the RR skipper has mostly batted in the finisher role and has shown his calmness and composure. In the T20Is, the wicketkeeper has been used as a floater more. However, Samson is quite adaptable and will be ready to bat at any position if selected in the playing XI.
India’s ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar.
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