IRE vs IND: It Was Not A Tough Call To Leave Out Sanju Samson - Ashish Nehra

In Malahide, Hardik Pandya won the toss in his first game as captain and immediately had an impact. The Baroda all-rounder had some luck with the coin, unlike Rishabh Pant, who had lost five consecutive tosses. Umran Malik got his cap as well.

Sanju Samson’s name was absent from the starting lineup, which came as a rude surprise to some supporters. They noticed that Deepak Hooda was placed at number three, which undoubtedly enraged the RR captain’s supporters on social media. Former cricketer Ashish Nehra then provided an explanation of why Hooda was chosen over Samson.

Deepak Hooda Is Ahead In Pecking Order Than Sanju Samson: Ashish Nehra

“No, it’s not a tough call at all. Sanju Samson and Rahul Tripathi have come in place of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant. Deepak Hooda was already in the squad and even Venkatesh Iyer didn’t play a match against South Africa. And the kind of performance, Deepak Hooda did in IPL as he is one of those players who played for Rajasthan in Ranji Trophy, the whole season he scored runs, then in the IPL also,” he told Sony Liv’s pre-match show ‘Extra Innings.’

“He started the tournament, playing at 5 or 6 (for LSG) and then he was promoted to number three and there also he did well. So his confidence must be high. And it is good to see that he was in the squad before Samson arrived and he was backed before him. He is a sincere player and we know there are so many T20 games coming. And as we saw the squad was the same in all five games against South Africa, he would hope that he is persisted with,” Nehra further added.

The first match though might get washed out.

Also Read: IRE vs IND: Umran Malik Receives Maiden India Cap, Set To Make His India T20I Debut In 1st T20I vs Ireland