2024 has indeed been Sanju Samson’s best year in his career, at least until he was snubbed from Kerala’s Vijay Hazare Trophy squad. The keeper-batter had a stellar IPL season following which he was picked in the T20 World Cup squad. He overcame the obstacle of staying benched throughout the marquee tournament by firing back-to-back hundreds in T20Is. He also had an equal number of ducks during that very same series to his name. Given his record in white-ball cricket, Samson should ideally make it to India’s Champions Trophy squad. But he can only make it to the squad and not to the playing XI. Period.
What will be Sanju Samson’s role in CT 2025?
Sanju Samson could prove to be a good back-up option for India, given his run in white-ball formats recently, particularly in T20Is. The Kerala batter last played an ODI in November 2023 against South Africa, right after the ODI World Cup in 2023. With India’s playing XI expected to be studded with a middle-order comprising of stars like KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya among others, it is highly unlikely that Samson will take the field unless and until India suffers injuries through the course of the tournament and they believe that they have no other option but to field Sanju.
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Sanju Samson, who acted as India’s T20I opener in the last couple of series, has no chance to open the innings in ODIs. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are expected to be the designated openers for the side, with Yashasvi Jaiswal serving as the back-up. He can’t be the keeper either as the team has Rishabh Pant as the first-choice wicketkeeper. Should he be injured, KL Rahul can take over the role as he has prior experience. Hence, Samson is relegated to a third-choice wicketkeeper. This leaves the Kerala star with very little chance of being included in the playing XI.
| Format | Mat | Runs | Ave | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ODIs | 16 | 510 | 56.66 | 99.60 |
| T20Is | 37 | 810 | 27.93 | 155.17 |
