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India Champions Trophy squad shocker: Sanju Samson snubbed again, extra spinner in Dubai

India Champions Trophy squad shocker: Sanju Samson snubbed again, extra spinner in Dubai

Despite outperforming Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson is left out. Questions arise over the inclusion of an extra spinner and omission of Mohd Siraj.

Selectors come and go but the selection strategy remains the same for India Cricket Team. At least, the selection is consistent for one man, i.e. Sanju Samson. Despite trumping Rishabh Pant in both ODIs and T20Is since ODI World Cup Final 2023, the left-hander gets the vote of confidence and Samson does not even find a place in the reserves in the India squad for the ICC Champions Trophy. There will be questions about why India picked an additional spinner when there is no evidence of a turn in Dubai in February or March. The inclusion of Yashasvi Jaiswal without making his ODI debut is also surprising.

3 selection shockers

  • Why pick Rishabh Pant over Sanju Samson?
  • Why is there an additional spinner in the squad?
  • If WC was selection criteria why drop Mohd Siraj?
Why Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant were preferred over KL Rahul in India's T20 World Cup 2024 squad, BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar reveals.

Sanju Samson: Why always me?

For the moment, let’s consider India picked the Champions Trophy squad based on the ODI World Cup performance since there were only six ODIs during the period. Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul were the two keepers. KL Rahul was the designated keeper-batter. With Ishan falling out of favour, Sanju Samson made his move.

Since that dreaded final on Nov 19, 2023, Samson has scored 556 runs in 14 innings across ODIs and T20Is at an average of 46.33. He also had four centuries with three of them coming in T20Is. It was a breakout 2024 for him. His competitor Rishabh Pant scored 905 runs in 30 innings across formats at an average of 33.51. Clearly, Samson had better stats. Then, why Pant got the nod over Samson again? And it wasn’t the first time though. Pant was picked over Samson in the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cup, Ishan was picked ahead of Samson for the ODI World Cup and Pant played over Samson in the T20 World Cup 2024 as well.

“Rishabh Pant is a match-winner in Tests, especially in overseas conditions. As a wicketkeeper, he is better than Sanju Samson and has almost reached MS Dhoni’s level,” former India cricketer Mohd Kaif advocated for Samson’s selection. In fact, Samson made the squad of Sunil Gavaskar, Sanjay Manjrekar and Irfan Pathan, only to miss Agarkar’s team which mattered.

It is clear that selectors and the team management favour a left-hander in a crowded right-hand batting line-up. But then why have Yashasvi Jaiswal alongside Pant in the squad? The only reason could be Samson’s batting position. Samson has proven ineffective below No 4. Both KL Rahul and Pant can bat at No 5 and No 6. With Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer occupying No 3 and No 4 spots, India need a batter at five or below.

India’s WKs in last 24 months

PlayerInnRunsAvgBest50100
KL Rahul46163444.16111103
Rishabh Pant3090533.5110941
Sanju Samson2168938.2711124
*Across all formats

Is picking an extra spinner the right move?

Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI Selection Committee has picked four spinners in the squad. Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar. They have sacrificed one slot of a specialist seamer. The team management is confident that Hardik Pandya can bowl 10 overs and be the third seamer if needed.

However, in Dubai, where India will play all their matches as per agreement with the ICC, spin seems ineffective in this period. In the ongoing International League T20 in Dubai, pacers have picked up 41 wickets at an average of 19.14. Spinners have only managed to get 8 wickets at 46.87 average.

Furthermore, in the last few tournaments in Dubai where India played, slow seamers got the advantage and not the spinners. The pitches will be sluggish after ILT20 but not enough to rule out seamers completely.

More on Cricket

If WC was selection criteria why drop Mohd Siraj?

With Sanju Samson, it seems that his only mistake is not playing enough ODIs or being part of the ODI World Cup. Ajit Agarkar was clear that the World Cup did play a part in team selection for the ICC Champions Trophy. But then why drop Mohd Siraj who bagged 14 wickets in the WC? Since the final, Siraj has bagged 47 wickets in 39 innings across formats.

But if the current form was considered, Ravindra Jadeja should not have been picked either. Jadeja had a poor Australia tour and was ineffective against New Zealand. Rishabh Pant’s white-ball numbers haven’t been noteworthy either.

However, that’s the reality. To say that Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI Selection Committee has been unfair to Sanju Samson would be an understatement. But their blind faith in Rishabh Pant is a testament that all the selectors around the world should adopt.

India squad for ICC Champions Trophy

Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja

Reserves: Nitish Kumar Reddy, Avesh Khan, Varun Chakravarthy

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