Subramaniam Badrinath takes a dig at Indian team management for excluding Sanju Samson from ODI XI

Ishan Kishan was preferred over Sanju Samson in the playing XI for the first ODI vs West Indies.

Former India batter Subramaniam Badrinath was unhappy with the Indian team management excluding the talented Sanju Samson from the XI which played against West Indies in the first ODI in Barbados on July 27, 2023.

India recorded an emphatic victory by 5 wickets as West Indies was blown away by Indian spinners for just 114 runs after being put into bat by Rohit Sharma. Kuldeep Yadav (4/6) and Ravindra Jadeja (3/37) routed the hosts in just 23 overs.

Then Ishan Kishan thumped 52 runs as India won by 5 wickets in 22.5 overs and 163 balls to spare.

However, before the match, the focus was on the playing XI of the Indian side as many hoped for Sanju Samson to be given a chance in the side as the keeper given that he bats in the middle order, while Ishan Kishan was looked as an backup opener.

However, the Indian team opted to go for Kishan over Samson and had slotted him to bat at no.4, but Rohit Sharma sent him to open the innings as the target was a paltry one and he shined with a fifty.

Subramaniam Badrinath unhappy with Sanju Samson being ignored by Indian team

In the first ODI, Surya was forced to play by wearing Samson’s jersey because his size kit was not available. And this reminded fans and many experts of how much injustice is being done to Sanju Samson, who did well against West Indies last time India toured the Caribbean, but now struggled to find a place.

Using the reference of Sanju’s kit on Surya, Badrinath, who played in 2 Tests, 7 ODIs, and one T20I for India during his playing career, wrote, "Looks like the only way Sanju can find a place in the XI".

Sanju, who made his ODI debut for India against Sri Lanka in July 2021, has played in a total of 11 50-over matches till date, in which he has managed to score 330 runs in 10 innings with an average of 66.