“He should have led the side” – Shashi Tharoor questions selectors' decision to ignore Sanju Samson for IND vs AUS T20I series

Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram's Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor has come out in support of Indian cricketer Sanju Samson after the latter was snubbed by the selectors for the upcoming T20I series against Australia.

The former Indian diplomat questioned the selectors for ignoring the wicketkeeper-batter for India's five-match T20I series against Australia at home. He believes that Samson should not only be included in the side but also lead the team in the absence of other senior players because of his captaincy experience with Kerala and Rajasthan Royals in domestic cricket.

Tharoor also expressed his surprise at the omission of Yuzvendra Chahal. The leg-spinner is India's leading wicket-taker in T20Is. The 33-year-old has scalped nine wickets in as many games this year. Both Samson and Chahal missed out on India’s 2023 World Cup squad.

Suryakumar Yadav was picked despite his below-par numbers in ODIs. The right-handed batter scored 106 runs in seven innings at an average of 17.66 during the recently-concluded 2023 World Cup.

Yadav also failed to deliver in the summit clash against Australia, scoring 18 runs off 28 balls. He currently averages 25.77 in ODIs, with 389 runs in 35 innings. However, Yadav has amassed 433 runs in 10 T20I innings at an average of 54.33, including one century and three fifties in 2023.

Samson, on the other hand, returned with scores of 1* and 40 (26) in two T20Is against Ireland. The right-handed batter, however, managed just 32 runs in three innings during the five-match T20I series against West Indies earlier this year.

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How India's T20I squad looks for Australia series without Sanju Samson

India’s squad: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar

Note: Shreyas Iyer will join the squad as vice-captain for the last two T20Is in Raipur and Bengaluru.

IND vs AUS T20I series schedule

November 23: 1st T20I at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam

November 26: 2nd T20I at Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram

November 28: 3rd T20I at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati

December 1: 4th T20I at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur

December 3: 5th T20I at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru