Sanju Samson’s exclusion from India’s 15-man T20 World Cup squad and the reserves has led to a massive uproar among his fans. And the Kerala locals have reportedly decided to show their frustrations with the BCCI in the form of a protest during the India-South Africa T20I in Thiruvananthapuram later this month.
Samson, the Rajasthan Royals skipper and Kerala’s only high-profile player currently around the Indian team, has been dropped from the national side recently, despite doing well in the chances he’s got this year.
In 5 T20I innings this year, Samson has scored 179 runs at a strike rate of 158 with a best of 77, vs Ireland in Malahide. And in 6 ODIs, Samson has scored 130 at an average of 43 while remaining not out twice, with a best of 54, in a pressure run-chase in West Indies.
He had a fruitful IPL 2022 season as well, where he finished with 458 runs scored at a strike rate of 146, staying true to his ambitioned intent while batting in T20 cricket.
Kerala locals to protest against BCCI in Ind-SA T20I
However, he couldn’t find a place in India’s Asia Cup and T20 World Cup contingents, with the selectors and management preferring Rishabh Pant in the squad while Shreyas Iyer got a place in the reserves in both these tournaments.
Disappointed with the omission of the 27-year-old Kerala keeper-batsman, the locals have reportedly planned to hold a protest on the September 28 T20I between India and South Africa at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram.
According to a report by the news agency IANS, the locals are planning to attend the match wearing T-shirts with Samson’s picture on it launching a protest against the board and selectors.
India squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2022:
Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
Reserves: Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar.
