Kerala MP Shashi Tharoor questions BCCI for leaving Sanju Samson out of ODI squad for Sri Lanka tour

Sanju Samson had hit a hundred in his last ODI appearance for India.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India’s ODI and T20I squads for tour of Sri Lanka on 18 July, which saw ouster of Kerala wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson. The series will be played between July 17 and August 7.

Following Kerala’s wicket-keeper batter Samson’s exclusion, an MP from Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor has questioned the BCCI for not including Samson in the ODI squad despite him scoring a hundred in his last ODI appearance for India.

The upcoming series will also be the first major assignment for the Indian cricket team after lifting the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in June. Also, Gautam Gambhir, who recently became the new head coach, will have his first assignment with the Indian side.

Shashi Tharoor questions BCCI selectors for not picking Samson

Interestingly, the BCCI selectors included wicket-keeper batter Samson in the T20I squad for the Sri Lanka white-ball tour. However, he was excluded from the ODI line-up as the selection committee went with Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul as the wicket-keeping options.

Samson played his last ODI match against South Africa at Paarl in December 2023. The right-handed batter scored a match-winning innings of 108 runs in 114 balls, including six fours and three sixes. Even after showcasing his skills, BCCI selectors ignored him for the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka.

Reacting to Samson’s exclusion from the ODI line-up, Kerala MP Tharoor slammed BCCI selectors for not including him. Tharoor further questioned exclusion of youngster Abhishek Sharma, who smashed a T20I century during the recently-concluded Zimbabwe tour.

“Interesting squad selection for India’s tour of Sri Lanka later this month. @IamSanjuSamson, who hit a century in his last ODI, has not been picked for ODIs, while @IamAbhiSharma4, who hit a T20I century in the #INDvZIM series, has not been picked at all. Rarely has success in India colours mattered so little to the selectors! Good luck to the team anyway,” Shashi Tharoor wrote on ‘X.’

Here is the post:

Interesting squad selection for India’s tour of Sri Lanka later this month. @IamSanjuSamson, who hit a century in his last ODI, has not been picked for ODIs, while @IamAbhiSharma4, who hit a T20I century in the #INDvZIM series, has not been picked at all. Rarely has success in… pic.twitter.com/PJU5JxSOx2

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) July 18, 2024

India squad for T20I series against Sri Lanka:

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj.

India squad for ODI series against Sri Lanka:

Rohit Sharma (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.

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