“Make it count brother” – Fans erupt as Sanju Samson drafted into playing XI for IND vs WI 2nd ODI

Sanju Samson has been drafted into India's playing XI for the second ODI against West Indies at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday, July 29. That came after the Indian think tank rested captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the game.

For the uninitiated, Samson played his last ODI against New Zealand in November last year. He has, so far, represented Team India in 11 ODIs, scoring 330 runs at an average of 66, including two half-centuries.

Samson was last in action in the Indian Premier League. The Rajasthan Royals captain amassed 362 runs in 14 games at a strike rate of 153.39, including three half-centuries.

Fans on Twitter are thrilled to see Sanju Samson’s inclusion in the playing XI. One tweeted:

“Make it count brother.”

Here are some of the other Twitter reactions:

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West Indies opt to bowl against India; Sanju Samson and Axar Patel included in playing XI

West Indies captain Shai Hope won the toss and chose to bowl against India in the second ODI. They replaced Rovman Powell and Dominic Drakes with Keacy Carty and Yannic Cariah respectively.

At the toss, Hope said:

“We are going to bowl first, we saw what happened in the last game. The conditions will assist the bowlers. We got two games to play, so we got to win this one to stay alive. It has been a bit unpredictable. Both teams have to play on the same surface. We got to bowl first and put them under pressure.’

Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya is leading Team India in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma. Besides Samson, Axar Patel has also made it to the playing XI.

West Indies (Playing XI): Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Alick Athanaze, Shai Hope (w/c), Shimron Hetmyer, Keacy Carty, Romario Shepherd, Yannic Cariah, Gudakesh Motie, Alzarri Joseph, Jayden Seales

India (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (w), Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar

India are currently leading the three-match ODI series 1-0. They beat the hosts by five wickets in the first ODI.

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