"Probably MS Dhoni had a bit of a say" - Former Australia bowler's shocking claim on Sanju Samson missing out on 2025 Champions Trophy

Former Australia cricketer Brad Hogg shockingly claimed that India selectors ignored Sanju Samson in the 15-member squad for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy following a chat with former skipper MS Dhoni. Samson was ignored even after scoring a century in his last ODI outing in South Africa in December 2023.

He was previously sidelined for the three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka last year. KL Rahul returned with scores of 31 and 0 in the first two games of that series, while Rishabh Pant departed for six runs in the third and final match. Team India lost the series by a 0-2 margin.

Rahul and Pant were picked in the squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against England and the ICC event.

Commenting on Samson's non-selection, Brad Hogg said in a video uploaded on X:

“Sanju Samson is not picked because probably MS Dhoni had a bit of a say. A little bit of a cheeky there but this a good squad.”

ODI numbers:

KL Rahul: 2851 runs in 72 innings @49.16

Rishabh Pant: 871 runs in 27 innings @33.50

Sanju Samson: 510 runs in 14 innings @56.66

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“Too old and low strike rate” – Brad Hogg’s brutal verdict on Karun Nair’s exclusion for ICC 2025 Champions Trophy

Brad Hogg also came up with a brutal verdict on Karun Nair, who missed out on a place in the India squad for the ICC 2025 Champions Trophy. He pointed out that the 33-year-old is old and has a lower strike rate. The cricketer-turned-commentator said:

“Karun Nair and Sanju Samson miss out. Karun Nair in matter of runs in first-class cricket but too old and low strike rate.”

Karun Nair amassed 779 runs in nine matches at an average of 389.50, including five centuries, in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy. His strike rate was 124.04. Overall, the Vidarbha skipper has 3128 runs in 107 List-A matches, averaging 41.15, comprising eight centuries and 14 fifties. His strike rate is 89.24.

India's Champions Trophy 2025 squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja.