More bad news awaits Sanju Samson, this player set to replace him as India's backup wicketkeeper

Sanju Samson's absence from India's ODI squad for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka has surprised many including a number of former cricketers.

The wicketkeeper-batsman was expected to make it to the ODI squad after doing well in the limited number of chances that he had got in the past. In India's last ODI which was against South Africa in December, the Kerala star had scored a brilliant match-winning century.

While Sanju Samson would have hoped that his fortunes would finally change after the century in testing conditions against the Proteas, the selectors, and the team management had other plans. They decided to drop him from the squad for the upcoming series, much to everyone's surprise including some former cricketers such as S Badrinath, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, and Dodda Ganesh.

Sanju Samson not the preferred backup wicketkeeper:

KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant have been picked as the two wicketkeepers in the ODI squad. The decision from the selectors has made it pretty clear that Sanju Samson is still not the preferred choice as a wicketkeeper. And things could go from bad to worse for him in the coming days.

As per a report in ESPNcricinfo, the selectors do not prefer Sanju Samson as a backup wicketkeeper either. The report stated that the selectors want to groom Samson's Rajasthan Royals teammate Dhruv Jurel. The Uttar Pradesh star is reportedly seen as the main backup wicketkeeper across formats.

"While the selectors have named both Pant and Rahul as wicketkeepers for the ODI leg of the Sri Lanka tour, Dhruv Jurel, who made his India debut during the England Test series earlier this year, is understood to be seen as the main backup keeper across formats.

"Rahul’s return is also the reason Sanju Samson could not find a spot in the 50-overs squad for the Sri Lanka series, despite having scored a century in his most recent ODI," the report stated.

Jurel made his Test debut earlier this year during the home series against England and hit the ground running in international cricket. He showed remarkable composure and maturity by doing well with the bat in pressure situations. Earlier this year, Jurel made his T20I debut as well during the tour of Zimbabwe although he failed to retain his spot for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka.