“If I had to choose between KL Rahul and Samson, I would…” Harbhajan Singh’s take on Sanju Samson’s exclusion from ODIs

India has announced its squad for the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup and for the ODI series against Australia, and the name of Sanju Samson is again not considered for the matches despite having an average of 55 in the ODIs, though the right-handed batter was given a chance in the ODI series against the West Indies when India toured the Caribbeans two months ago. Sanju Samson scored a half century in the ODIs against the West Indies, but his performance wasn’t that impressive in the T20 series, as he scored just 32 runs in the three innings. Former India’s spin legend Harbhajan Singh has shared his opinion on Sanju Samson’s exclusion from the team.
Sharing his opinion, Harbhajan Singh said that as a batter, he has a good average in ODIs, but India already has his substitutes who are already doing well with the bat besides wicket-keeping for the team.
“Sanju Samson’s exclusion has raised a lot of debates. If you average 55 in ODIs and still don’t be a part of the squad then definitely that’s strange. But I think Sanju wasn’t selected because India already had two wicketkeepers, KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan. Both are also a part of the World Cup squad”
Harbhajan Singh said on his YouTube channel
KL Rahul returned strong from his injury and played a great knock against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 match. It was the first ODI he was playing after being out of the game for months owing to an injury. He scored a century against Pakistan and announced his return. Ishan Kishan, in the group stage match against Pakistan, saved India with his knock to put a respectable score on the board before the match was called off due to rain. Harbhajan favored Kl Rahul over Sanju Samson due to this reason.
“If I have to choose between KL Rahul and Sanju Samson, I would definitely select Rahul because of the stability he provides at No.4, No.5. Samson is also a good player and can hit sixes at will, but the situation now is such that you can’t have three wicketkeeper-batters in a team. It will be difficult to field all of them in the XI”
Harbhajan Singh added
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