Sanju Samson has thrown his name into the wicketkeeper hat. Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, and Dhruv Jurel were already in an intense battle for the backup keeper spot for the India vs New Zealand ODI series. Now, Samson has re-entered the race.
The 31-year-old was very much in the ODI scheme of things until 2023. In fact, in his last 50-over match for India, he scored a hundred and bagged the ‘player of the match’ award. But, for reasons unknown, he hasn’t played for India since.
Sanju Samson makes India ODI squad case
Fascinatingly, Samson hadn’t played a List A since that century against South Africa in December 2023. That was until today, when, on his Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) return, the keeper-batter from Kerala brought up a 90-ball hundred against Kishan’s Jharkhand.
Despite having no 50-over cricket experience under his belt for the last 2 years, Samson took to List A cricket like a fish to water. Chasing 312 at the ADSA Railways Cricket Ground in Ahmedabad, he opened the batting with captain Rohan Kunnummal.
Kunnummal took the lead, bringing up his ton in just 59 balls. But Samson played the slow and steady race. His century came in 90 balls. Moments after reaching triple figures, he departed. But the job was done. Kerala needed just 64 runs from 16.5 overs when he went back to the pavillion.
Samson has now officially re-entered the keeper race. With the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) expected to announce India’s squad for the New Zealand ODI series later today, we might see selectors deliberate over who the back-up to KL Rahul will be.
Probable India ODI squad for New Zealand
Shubman Gill (c), Shreyas Iyer (vc), Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana
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