T20 World Cup 2024: "Sanju Samson always overlooked" - Matthew Hayden takes a dig at Rohit Sharma and Ajit Agarkar

Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden has backed Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson's inclusion in India's squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024. Matthew Hayden stated that Sanju Samson has been overlooked by the selectors for nearly a decade.

Sanju Samson has been in incredible form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. The wicketkeeper-batter is the second-highest scorer in the tournament, behind Virat Kohli. He has scored 385 runs in nine matches at an outstanding average of 77 and a strike rate of 161.09.

As per reports, KL Rahul is the frontrunner to serve as Rishabh Pant's backup wicketkeeper batter. The Lucknow Super Giants skipper is in third place in the orange cap list in the ongoing season. Rahul has scored 378 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of 144.27 with a best score of 82.

Sanju Samson Always Seems To Get Overlooked - Matthew Hayden

Speaking on Star Sports, Matthew Hayden stated that Sanju Samson deserves more recognition from the selectors. Hayden highlighted Samson's ability to excel at the top order and his recent performance for the Rajasthan Royals.

“With Sanju, he always seems to get overlooked for national honours. I honestly been saying this for a decade, I don’t know why because he is a serious hitter of the ball and if you put him up top, he does the damage through the phases. Tonight was the perfect captain’s knock and guess what, he did it in the end,” Hayden said.

Sanju Samson scored an unbeaten 71 runs off 33 deliveries, featuring seven boundaries and four sixes. The RR skipper helped his team chase down a challenging target of 197 with an over to spare against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium on Saturday, April 27.

Sanju Samson Is One Of My First Picks - Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen stated that Sanju Samson would be one of his first picks for the upcoming mega event. Pietersen praised Samson's ability to perform under pressure as a captain despite not receiving higher honors.

“He has to go. There’s no doubt in my mind that he has to be on that aeroplane to the Caribbean and the USA in a couple of weeks,” Pietersen said while speaking on Star Sports.

“He is doing a lot with the pressure that he is also under as a captain and not being given higher honours. The way he scores runs and the situation he bats in, if I was the selector, he is one of my first picks,” Pietersen added. 

The Rajasthan Royals started strongly, with openers Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal contributing 60 runs in 5.5 overs. They lost the openers in quick succession. Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel, who scored an unbeaten 52 runs off 34 balls, guided the team to a comfortable seven-wicket victory.

Also read: T20 World Cup 2024: Rohit Sharma set to take revenge from Hardik Pandya along with Ajit Agarkar