‘Hope the conversation would have happened…’, Samson got support from veterans, surrounded the selectors

New Delhi. Not only the fans but also the stalwarts of the cricket world are surprised to see Sanju Samson’s name not included in the T20 team announced for India’s Zimbabwe tour. Former Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane, while asking questions to the selectors on the exclusion of the wicket-keeper batsman who played an important role in the T20 World Cup victory, expressed hope that Sanju must have been discussed before this decision. After Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin also expressed his displeasure over this decision and called it a wrong message for the rest of the team players.

Rahane expressed surprise on Instagram
Experienced batsman Ajinkya Rahane openly expressed his support for Sanju Samson through Instagram story. He wrote, ‘This decision seemed very strange because recently the player who had made an important contribution in India winning the T20 World Cup did not get a place in the team for the Zimbabwe tour.’ Rahane expressed hope that the selectors must have talked to Sanju Samson before taking this decision. He also expressed confidence that Sanju will soon return to the Indian team.

Zimbabwe out of tour, chance in Asian Games
Sanju Samson was not included in the team for the three-match T20 series starting from July 23. The selectors have chosen Prabhsimran Singh as the backup wicketkeeper of Ishan Kishan. However, Sanju is not completely out of Team India’s plans. He has already been included in the Indian team for the Asian Games to be held in Japan in September.

Ashwin also raised big questions
Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also raised questions on Sanju Samson’s exclusion. He said, ‘If the team management does not show confidence in the players who are performing well, then other players will also be insecure about their place.’ According to Ashwin, ‘When players feel that despite performing well they can be dropped from the team, then they will avoid taking risks. This will affect the team’s play and ultimately the Indian team will suffer losses.

‘This is not a matter of luxury, why the hurry?’
Ashwin clearly said that his statement is not against Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Praising the young batsman, he said, ‘Vaibhav is a very talented player and no one can stop him from playing in the Indian team, but the question is why so much haste was done?’ Ashwin said, ‘Sanju Samson played a brilliant innings in the T20 World Cup and after that he performed consistently well in the IPL as well.’ According to him, ‘Sanju was playing with such consistency after a long time and it seems a bit harsh decision to drop him at such a time.’