"Will they give him a proper run now?" - Social media reacts to Sanju Samson's valiant 128-run knock in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2023

Kerala captain Sanju Samson starred with the bat against Railways in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2023 in Bengaluru on Tuesday, December 5.

Chasing a 256-run target in the 50-over contest, Kerala found themselves in a precarious position. They were reeling at 26/3 at one stage when Samson steered the ship out of choppy waters for his team with his gutsy knock.

The wicketkeeper-batter notched up his second List-A century, scoring 128 runs off 139 deliveries. Samson earned widespread praise on social media for his batting exploits.

Here are some of the top reactions:

Sanju Samson's brilliant ton went in vain as Kerala ultimately suffered an 18-run defeat, finishing 237/8 after 50 overs. Apart from Samson, Shreyas Gopal also chipped in with a crucial 53-run knock. Rahul Sharma was the pick of the bowlers, bagging a four-wicket haul.

Kerala finished the league stage as the table-toppers in Group A. The side won five out of their seven games.

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Sanju Samson is part of India's ODI squad for South Africa tour

Sanju Samson didn't make it to India's 15-member roster for the 2023 World Cup. He was also overlooked by the national selectors for the recently concluded five-match home T20I series against Australia.

However, he returned to India's ODI team for the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa. KL Rahul will lead the team in the 50-over matches in the absence of senior players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja.

Notably, Samson once again didn't find a place in the Men in Blue's T20I squad for the South Africa tour.

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India squad for South Africa tour

India’s squad for Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohammed Shami*, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), and Prasidh Krishna.

India’s squad for 3 T20Is: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, and Deepak Chahar.

India’s squad for 3 ODIs: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (C & wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, and Deepak Chahar.