‘Not Getting Place Due to Lobby’: Fans React After Sanju Samson Fails to Find Place in India’s XI For 1st ODI vs West Indies – News18

Flamboyant wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson failed to make a cut into India’s playing XI for the first ODI match against West Indies at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados. Team India preferred the likes of Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav in the middle-order over Samson on Thursday in the series opener. Samson has performed well in the recent opportunities he got in the ODI format as he has scored 330 runs in 11 ODIs at a sublime average of 66.

Kishan, who prefers to open the innings, was picked as a middle-order batter in the squad. Meanwhile, Suryakumar also managed to retain his place despite a hat-trick of golden ducks in the last three ODI he played before Thursday’s clash.

The fans on Twitter lashed out at the Team India management for dropping Samson from the XI.

Meanwhile, India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first against West Indies on Thursday. India will kickstart their preparations for the upcoming ODI World Cup with the series.

India handed debut cap to Mukesh Kumar as premier pacer Mohammed Siraj returned to India after complaints of soar ankle.

Mukesh, the right-arm quick, made his Test debut against West Indies in Port-of-Spain last week, He will be a part of the four-man fast-bowling attack for India, with Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav being two spin options as the visitors begin to finetune their combination for the upcoming ODI World Cup, to be held at home from October 5 to November 19.

“No particular reason (behind bowling first). We are gonna try a few different things. We want to head into the World Cup with a clear mindset. For us, the results are also important.