It was celebration time for the fans of Sanju Samson as the Kerala and Rajasthan Royals star was named in the ODI squad to tour South Africa in December-January.
On Thursday, the BCCI announced squads for all three formats for India’s upcoming tour of South Africa. The South African tour comprises 3 T20Is, 3 ODIs, and 2 Tests from December 10 to January 7.
Sanju Samson last featured in an ODI for India in August in the West Indies. After that, he was not picked in the Asia Cup and the World Cup. Now he makes his return to the largely second-string ODI squad. KL Rahul will lead India in the ODIs against South Africa.
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested from the white-ball leg of the South Africa tour, while Hardik Pandya is injured. Interestingly, Ishan Kishan, who was part of the Asia Cup and World Cup squads over Sanju Samson, has not been picked in the ODIs to face South Africa. Whether Kishan, who is picked in the T20I and Test squads, is dropped or rested is unclear.
Sanju Samson has brilliant numbers in ODI cricket. In 13 ODIs, Samson averages 55 with a strike rate of 104 with three fifties in 12 knocks, and he’s remained not out 5 times.
Fans of Sanju Samson went wild on Twitter:
India’s ODI squad for South Africa: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (capt & wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar.
However, Samson has not been picked in the T20I squad.
India’s T20I squad for South Africa: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-capt), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar
