IND vs NZ: “It's Tough On Sanju Samson” – Murali Kartik Reacts To Wicket-keeper Being Left Out In Favour Of Deepak Hooda For 2nd ODI

Former India National Cricket Team left-arm spinner Murali Kartik has shared his views on Sanju Samson being dropped from India’s playing XI for the second ODI against New Zealand, stating that it was harsh on the Kerala wicketkeeper-batter to miss out from XI after just one match.

Team India made two major changes to the playing XI in the second ODI match as Deepak Chahar replaced Shardul Thakur and Deepak Hooda replaced Sanju Samson. Fans were extremely upset with the team management’s decision to leave out Samson.

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Also, stand-in captain Shikhar Dhawan, during the post-match presentation ceremony, revealed that the decision to drop Samson was made because they wanted the 6th bowling option in the playing XI.

Meanwhile, Murali Kartik stated that it’s really unfortunate that Samson had to be dropped because Team India doesn’t have batting all-rounders in the team.

“You want bowling options, unfortunately for India, the top 6 that we have here, the top 6 none of them bowl. And I said this before as well, it’s tough on Sanju Samson. We all keep talking about how good he is,” Karthik said.

Sanju Samson misses out in spite of scoring runs – Murali Kartik

Kartik further mentioned that Samson had performed very well in the home series against South Africa before the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 and had scored good 36 runs in the first ODI, still, he was dropped. He elaborated:

“He comes and gets a lovely score. He bats really well in the series against South Africa. Yes, the feeling is to keep him going and then that’s right. But now he misses out in spite of scoring runs in the previous game and you get Deepak Hooda to bowl, which is fine.

“If you are picking him as a batter from the get-go and then getting him to bowl, that’s a different thing. But for him to come now and then the others to miss out.. look Shardul Thakur has been among the wickets. It’s a tough ask. I know VVS Laxman has got a lot on his plate, he is a fair man. With the squad of 14, this is what they have tried to do, given what happened in the previous game.”

Also Read: IND vs NZ: Ashish Nehra Reacts To India’s Decision To Drop Sanju Samson, Shardul Thakur For 2nd ODI vs New Zealand