Danish Kaneria, the former Pakistan leg-spinner feels that BCCI made Sanju Samson the captain of the India A team for its unofficial ODI series against New Zealand A due to the pressure built on them for not selecting the player for the upcoming 2022 T20I World Cup.
Wicketkeepers Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik got a nod ahead of Sanju Samson in the 15-member Indian squad for T20 World Cup, while the 27-year-old even failed to get a spot in the reserves.
Danish Kaneria Reckons Sanju Samson Was Made India A Captain As BCCI Came Under Pressure For Not Selecting Him For 2022 T20I World Cup
Sanju Samson will now be leading India A against New Zealand in a three-match series. The Kerala batter, who made his T20I debut in 2015, has managed 296 runs at a modest average of 21.14 in 16 T20Is and 176 runs in 7 ODIs averaging 44.
“Sanju has great fan following. His batting style, in Australia, gives you a x-factor. On bouncy wickets, nobody plays better than Sanju…Sanju has now been made India A captain (against New Zealand). BCCI came under so much pressure (for not selecting Sanju for T20 World Cup), that Sanju was been handed the captaincy of India A ,” said Danish Kaneria on his YouTube channel.
“That’s a pride, whenever you captain a national team be it any category. This the best opportunity for Sanju. If he can win the series for India A as captain, it would be great,” added Danish Kaneria.
India’s unofficial ODI series against New Zealand kicks off on September 22 while the next two matches of the series will be played on September 25 and 27. The likes of Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, and Umran Malik have also been named in India A squad.
Sanju Samson Had An Outstanding IPL 2022 And Performed Well In Limited Opportunities In ODIs And T20Is In 2022
Sanju Samson had a great Indian Premier League 2022, in which his side Rajasthan Royals reached the final. He scored 458 runs in 17 matches at an average of 28.63 and a strike rate of 146.79. Two half-centuries came out of his bat, with the best score of 55.
In five innings across six T20I matches this year, Sanju Samson scored 179 runs at an average of 44.75. He hit a half-century, a knock of 77 runs against Ireland. In six ODIs, he scored 130 runs at an average of 43.33.
One half-century came out of his bat in five innings he played. He scored his maiden T20I fifty (77) against Ireland this year and maiden ODI fifty (54) against West Indies this year. He is expected to play against South Africa in 3 match ODIs prior to the 2022 T20I World Cup where the World Cup-bound players will be rested.
India A One-day squad: Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rahul Tripathi, Rajat Patidar, Sanju Samson (Captain), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Kuldeep Yadav, Shahbaz Ahmed, Rahul Chahar, Tilak Varma, Kuldeep Sen, Shardul Thakur, Umran Malik, Navdeep Saini, Raj Angad Bawa
India A vs New Zealand A Fixtures: One-day matches:
1st 1-day match: Sept. 22: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
2nd 1-day match: Sept. 25: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
3rd 1-day match: Sept. 27: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
India’s squad for T20I World Cup 2022: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh
Standby Players: Mohammad Shami, Deepak Chahar, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi