"Sanju Samson has done well in limited chances he has been given" Pragyan Ojha on Samson's snub from ODI squad for SL tour

Pragyan Ojha said that Sanju Samson needs to be consistent whenever he gets the opportunity.

Former Indian cricketer Pragyan Ojha has opened up on the BCCI selectors snubbing star wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson from the ODI squad for the upcoming away three-match series against Sri Lanka, starting on August 2.

Earlier this month, the BCCI announced the T20I and ODI squads for the upcoming white-ball tour of the Island Nation. The Indian side will play a three-match T20I series from July 27 to July 30. This will be followed by three ODIs, which are scheduled from August 2 to August 7.

Whenever he gets the opportunity, he has to be consistent: Pragyan Ojha on Samson’s snub from ODIs for the Lanka tour

Wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson was part of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024-winning squad, but couldn’t play any games as Rishabh Pant was the first-choice keeper for the Indian cricket team.

After the T20 World Cup 2024, Samson was included in the five-match T20I series in Zimbabwe, where he played three matches and scored 70 runs. The BCCI selectors named the Kerala-born cricketer in the squad for the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka.

However, the Indian think tank didn’t include Samson in the ODIs for the Lanka tour, a decision that was heavily criticized by many cricket pundits. The selectors went with Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul as the two wicket-keeping options for the upcoming three-match ODI series.

Samson played his last ODI match against South Africa at Paarl in December 2023. The wicket-keeper batter smashed a match-winning century, scoring 108 runs in 114 balls. Despite that, he couldn’t retain his spot in India’s ODI squad.

Speaking with Khel Now, in an interaction organized by Sony Sports Network, former India cricketer Pragyan Ojha expressed his thoughts regarding Samson’s exclusion from the ODI squad for the Lanka tour.

Ojha said that Samson needs to perform consistently whenever he gets the opportunity because with Rishabh Pant coming back into the ODI set-up, it will be a challenge for Samson to fight for the wicket-keeper’s spot.

“Obviously, as a player, I can relate to him. I can always like you know, I really feel for everyone, because you know, when you talk about a player doing really well, consistently performing, but the unfortunate part is only one can play and the dynamics is that it has changed because Rishabh Pant has come in now, especially Rishabh Pant being a left-hander. So I think that is something which is not in his control. Only thing I would say is whenever he gets the opportunity, he has to be consistent,” Ojha said.

It will be a big challenge for Samson: Pragyan Ojha

Ojha further explained that the Indian line-up has so many right-handed batters in the middle-order and with Pant being a left-hander, it always gives him an edge over Samson. The former spinner praised Samson, saying that in his limited opportunities, the Kerala-born cricketer has done well till now.

“That is all you can do as a player, because you know, the limited chances he has been given, he has done reasonably well. So that is what he needs to continue to do. That is how it has been because we have got so many right-handers prior to this,” Ojha added.

“Prior to this, we had so many right-handers, so that is the reason why they were always looking at someone who can bat in the middle order. So Rishabh Pant always offers that. So I think that has been a big challenge for Sanju,” he concluded.

India’s tour of Sri Lanka consisting of three T20Is and three ODIs will be played from 27th July to 7th August. It can be watched live on Sony Sports Ten 5 & Sony Sports Ten 1 in English, Sony Sports Ten 3 in Hindi and Sony Sports Ten 4 channels in Tamil & Telugu. Sony Sports Network is the official broadcaster for India’s tour of Sri Lanka 2024 in India.

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