Team India’s wicketkeeper-batter didn’t find a place in the 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup 2023. While the Indian team was practicing in Trivandrum for the mega event, Samson posted a cryptic post with the caption ‘With Team India’ which has gone viral across social media platforms.
Sanju Samson was a strong contender for the spot of wicketkeeper-batter in Team India’s World Cup squad. However, the selection committee picked KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan as wicketkeepers in the team and didn’t include Samson.
Sanju Samson posts picture of Team India practicing in front of his poster
The Men in Blue travelled from Guwahati to Trivandrum for their second warm-up match ahead of the ICC World Cup 2023 against the Netherlands. They had a practice session in the morning before the game against Netherlands at The Greenfield International Stadium.
Sanju Samson posted a picture on his Instagram account in which Indian cricketers could be seen practicing during the net session in Trivandrum with a big poster of Samson in the background.
“With Team India @ Gods own country !!” Samson added the caption on his Instagram post.
It’s worth noting that the Kerala-based batter was in the scheme of things ahead of the mega tournament. He was a part of the Indian squad in the ODI and T20I series against West Indies where he couldn’t score enough runs to impress the selection committee headed by former Indian pacer Ajit Agarkar.
On the other hand, Ishan Kishan grabbed his opportunities with both hands and after experienced keeper-batter KL Rahul regained his fitness, the selectors had no choice and had to exclude Sanju Samson from Team India’s 15-member squad for the World Cup.
Meanwhile, the India vs Netherlands warm-up game was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to heavy rain on October 3. Their first warm-up match against England too was called due to rain in Guwahati on September 30.
While the Rohit Sharma-led side had played 5 ODIs in the Aisa Cup 2023 and 3 games against Australia in the recently concluded ODI series. However, their preparations might have hindered a bit as both the warm-up games were called off due to torrential rain.
The first game of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 will be played on October 5 between Jos Buttler-led England and New Zealand in Ahmedabad. The Indian team will play their first league game on October 8 against Pat Cummins-led Australia at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.