Sanju Samson punished brutally by Indian cricket the same day he rejects CSK contract
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Sanju Samson, the Kerala batter, has been snubbed from the South Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy, despite it featuring 5 other players from the same state team.
Sanju Samson, the right-handed batter from Kerala, has been in the buzz ever since the opening of the IPL trade window. The dynamic wicket-keeper batter who has captained Rajasthan Royals over the last few seasons has been speculated to be one of the topmost signing choices for the 5-time champions Chennai Super Kings.
However, recently, some reports from Mumbai Mirror have stated that the Royals have shown no such intention to let go of the marquee player of their side, and likel,y Samson has also conditioned staying with the RR franchise.
Sanju Samson faces domestic snub ahead of Asia Cup 2025
Despite certainty over Sanju Samson's stance in franchise tournaments, his place in the Indian T20 side has been threatened with reports of Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal's probable return. Now, he has been snubbed from the South Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy as well.
Sanju Samson was seen playing in only 2 Ranji Trophy games in the last season for Kerala when they had a historic run into the finals. Most of the tournament, he did not feature for Kerala either due to international commitments or injury concerns.
As per the statements, the selectors had emphasized selecting players with strong red-ball performances for the Duleep Trophy.
"Sanju Samson was not selected because he was unavailable for much of last year’s Ranji Trophy season, when Kerala made their historic run to the final," Thalaivan Sargunam Xavier, the chairman of the South Zone selection committee, told TOI.
South Zone chairman's reasons for Samson's snub from the Duleep Trophy
"This squad was picked based on players who have consistently performed well in the Ranji Trophy and during India A tours," confirmed Xavier.
The chairman highlighted that players like Bhui and Jagadeesan, who have played the entire domestic season and have performed comprehensively, have been picked into the team as the glovesmen, while Samson was busy with international commitments and did not give enough priority to the domestic tournaments.
"N Jagadeeshan, the wicketkeeper-batter, who was added as cover for the injured Rishabh Pant during the ongoing England series, was selected due to his standout performances in domestic red-ball cricket."
"This is the blueprint set by the national selectors. Consequently, we decided to include Jagadeeshan and Andhra's Ricky Bhui as the stand-in gloveman," Xavier added.
Mumbai Indians star to lead South Zone in the Duleep Trophy
South Zone will be led by promising youngster Tilak Varma, who recently had a stunning County debut season, with two hundreds for Hampshire, and has shown some remarkable consistency in the longest format.
South Zone Squad: Tilak Varma (c) (Hyderabad), Mohammed Azharuddeen (vc) (Kerala), Tanmay Agarwal (Hyderabad), R Sai Kishore (Tamil Nadu), Tanay Thyagarajan (Hyderabad), Vijaykumar Vyshak (Karnataka), Nidheesh MD (Kerala), Ricky Bhui (Andhra), Devdutt Padikkal (Karnataka), Mohit Kale (Pondicherry), Salman Nizar (Kerala), Narayan Jagadeesan (Tamil Nadu), Tripurana Vijay (Andhra), Basil NP (Kerala), Gurjapneet Singh (Tamil Nadu), Snehal Kauthankar (Goa)
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Tagged:
Sanju Samson Tilak Varma Chennai Super Kings Rajasthan Royals IPL Duleep Trophy Kerala Cricket Association (KCA)
