India To Recall Sanju Samson For West Indies Series: Report

The national selection panel had sprung a huge surprise by dropping Sanju Samson from India’s T20I squad for the upcoming series against West Indies. India will play three T20Is and as many ODIs against the Caribbean outfit at home next month. Sanju Samson was a part of the series against Bangladesh but was dropped for the upcoming series even though he did not play a single game.

The selectors had rested skipper Virat Kohli for the Bangladesh series and had recalled the Kerala star. With Kohli not in team, it was expected that Samson would get a chance as a batsman in the playing eleven. But to everyone’s utter surprise, he warmed the bench throughout the three-match series. And to make the matters worse for the batsman, the selectors dropped him for the forthcoming series.

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Sanju Samson had earned that call after his consistent performances in domestic circuit including a double-century in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He has been one of the top performers in IPL as well as domestic arena in the last few years. Thus there is absolutely no doubt that the highly-rated batsman deserves a chance in the national team.

U-turn from selectors:

In a sensational development, the selectors are reportedly set to recall Sanju Samson in the team for the West Indies series. According to Mumbai Mirror, Samson will be added in the team as an extra member. The MSK Prasad-led selection panel had faced heavy criticism for their decision to drop the Kerala star.

Later reports suggested that the selectors were helpless since they had to recall skipper Kohli and retain Manish Pandey because he was ahead of Samson in the pecking order. Meanwhile, even if Samson is recalled, there is no surety that he will get a game. He can warm the bench once again as there is no vacant spot in the team right now.It is to be noted that Kerala haven’t qualified for the super league stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which means that Samson will not miss any game for the state while sitting out during the series.

Samson, meanwhile, is not new to playing for India. He had earned his maiden call-up way back in 2014 during the tour of England and had made his debut the following year during the Zimbabwe tour. He played one T20I on that tour and was dropped soon. The right-hander had to wait for four more years to get a recall from the national side.