Sanju Samson Has A Better ODI Average Than These 4 Selected Batsmen For Asia Cup – India’s squad for the Asia Cup 2023 was announced earlier this week. With the selectors and the management allowed to pick 17 members, while it was a largely expected squad with all players fit – KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer returned to the side straight away, and so did Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna, who had been part of the ODI setup before his back injury – one player missing out on selection created huge debate.
Sanju Samson once again missed out on selection – he’s named as the traveling reserve and will only get promoted in the squad if one of the two wicket-keepers or any of the batters sustains any injury and is ruled out of the tournament.
What enraged the fans was that Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma were picked in the 17-man squad ahead of Sanju Samson. One of them has a poor record by his own admission in ODIs while the other hasn’t even made his ODI debut yet.
On the other hand, Sanju Samson has very impressive numbers in his short ODI career so far: in 12 ODI innings, Sanju Samson averages 55 with three half-centuries to his name and has struck at a good strike rate of 104; while doing the finishing duties, he’s remained not out 5 times.
Suryakumar Yadav has a higher ceiling than Samson and SKY has shown what he’s capable of in T20 format all around the world, while Tilak Varma’s inclusion was cited to be because of his left-handedness as India’s current top six comprises only right-handers.
Still, these are some reasons which don’t really hold strong when looking at the raw numbers of Sanju Samson, who has an ODI average of 55! – and others who are selected.
There are 4 players selected in India’s Asia Cup squad who have a worse average than Sanju Samson:
Suryakumar Yadav
The world’s best T20 batsman, Suryakumar Yadav, hasn’t found his groove in the ODIs yet. In 24 ODI innings, Suryakumar averages a poor 24 with only 2 fifties.
It’s baffling to many that for someone who’s been in staggering form in T20 cricket – the format which requires higher risk than ODIs – hasn’t been able to crack ODIs yet.
Ishan Kishan
Ishan Kishan blasted a double century in Bangladesh last year, and recently hit three consecutive fifties in the ODIs in West Indies, bagging the Player of the Series award. He has a good average of 46 after 16 ODI innings, but it is still less than Sanju Samson’s 55 average.
KL Rahul
In the Asia Cup, KL Rahul will be making his comeback to professional cricket after injuring his thigh in the IPL. He’s the first-choice keeper-batsman in Rishabh Pant’s absence. Rahul’s first half of his career was as an opener and in the past 2-3 years. he rotated between opener and middle-order, taking the latter spot after Pant’s injury.
In 54 ODI matches, KL Rahul averages 45 with 5 centuries and 13 fifties.
Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer is the incumbent number 4 and will slot into this position straightaway in the Asia Cup. At the number 4 position, Iyer has a brilliant record: average of 47 in 20 innings with 2 hundreds.
His overall career ODI average of 46, though, is lower than Sanju Samson’s 55.
