Veteran politician and a big cricket fan, Shashi Tharoor has once again shown his immense support for Sanju Samson, who was excluded from India’s XI in the 3rd ODI against New Zealand on Wednesday.
New Zealand lead the series 1-0 after winning the 1st ODI by 7 wickets before the 2nd ODI was washed out because of rain. The 3rd ODI at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch, is also the last game of this tour for the second-string Indian side.
This tour was supposed to give the fringe players chances to strengthen their claims for a place in the ODI squad when the seniors return. Sanju Samson, however, was selected for only 1 match – first ODI- out of the 6 possible games on this tour.
He scored 36 runs from 38 balls, but was dropped in the 2nd and 3rd ODIs for Deepak Hooda as India wanted an extra bowler; Hooda is a part-time off-spinner, but is certainly a lesser of a finisher than Samson.
On the other hand, Rishabh Pant has played in all the games on this tour and couldn’t score more than 15 runs in any of the 4 innings he batted in.
Pant scored 10 runs in the 3rd ODI, and came out with some sharp words from Shashi Tharoor.
“One more failure for Pant, who clearly needs a break from white-ball cricket. One more opportunity denied to @IamSanjuSamson who now has to wait for the @IPL to show that he’s one of the best too-order [sic] bats in India,” Tharoor tweeted soon after Pant was dismissed for only 10 runs by medium pacer Daryl Mitchell, caught by deep square leg fielder after a mistimed pull from the left-hander.
One more failure for Pant, who clearly needs a break from white-ball cricket. One more opportunity denied to @IamSanjuSamson who now has to wait for the @IPL to show that he’s one of the best too-order bats in India. #IndvsNZ https://t.co/RpJKkDdp5n
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 30, 2022
Shashi Tharoor unimpressed with VVS Laxman’s reason for picking Pant over Samson
Shashi Tharoor had also taken a dig at India’s head coach for this tour, VVS Laxman, who said that Pant has proved himself at number 4 in the past – he hit a century in England two ODIs innings ago – but Tharoor, the MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, believes that Pant has failed “in ten of his last 11 innings” across formats while Samson, the mostly benched batter, has been in stunning form – Samson averages 76 at a strike rate of 105 in 9 ODI innings in 2022.
“Pant has done well at No. 4, so it is important to back him,” says @VVSLaxman281. He’s a good player out of form who’s failed in ten of his last 11 innings; Samson averages 66 in ODIs, has made runs in all his last five matches & is on the bench. Go figure,” Tharoor had tweeted in the morning.
“Pant has done well at No. 4, so it is important to back him,” says @VVSLaxman281. He’s a good player out of form who’s failed in ten of his last 11 innings; Samson averages 66 in ODIs, has made runs in all his last five matches & is on the bench. Go figure. @IamSanjuSamson
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 30, 2022
