'He has done nothing wrong': Fans question Sanju Samson's exclusion from India's ODI squad for Sri Lanka series

Sanju Samson, India's keeper-batter, was one of the noticeable absences from the ODI squad for the forthcoming three-match home series against Sri Lanka.

On Tuesday, December 27, the national selectors announced the squads for the ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka. While Samson was selected for the T20Is, he did not make the cut for the 50-over matches.

Notably, Samson was a member of India's white-ball squad in New Zealand in November. He was, however, benched for all three T20Is.

He eventually got a chance after being included in the first ODI of the series, but despite a respectable 36-run innings, he was omitted for the following two games. Furthermore, Samson was not selected for the Men in Blue's three-match One-Day International (ODI) series against Bangladesh in December.

His omission from the ODI team came as a surprise, considering there is no Rishabh Pant in the ODI squad either.

#TeamIndia squad for three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka.#INDvSL @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/XlilZYQWX2

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 27, 2022

The BCCI has chosen Ishan Kishan as wicketkeeper-batsman, with KL Rahul as his deputy. KL Rahul isn't a regular stumper but has played quite a few matches as wicketkeeper, the most recent being the ODI series against Bangladesh, where India was without Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan was not selected for the first two matches.

Following the squad announcement, several fans took to social media to criticize the team management for leaving Sanju Samson out of the ODI series against Sri Lanka. Many people thought Samson should have featured instead of KL Rahul, who has been struggling with form recently.

Here are some of the reactions on Twitter:

Why are they doing again and again with Sanju Samson!!!!!!

He has done nothing wrong in ODI#sanjusamson #ShikharDhawan #INDvsSL #SLvsIND pic.twitter.com/Ck7tB0yq7s

— Cric18 (@Criclav_18) December 27, 2022

Average of 66 and strike rate of 104 Sanju Samson hasn't done anything wrong. When it was T20 world cup it was told that we are looking him in ODIs but now in T20. #SanjuSamson  pic.twitter.com/t7Rjz5cLos

— Crictic (@Aayain1) December 27, 2022

Sanju Samson back to Indian Team for T20 series against Srilanka but dropped from ODI squad 

Not sure whether to be happy or not#SanjuSamson @IamSanjuSamson @SanjuSamsonFP pic.twitter.com/60eSxGA9Px

— Sanju Samson Fans Page (@SanjuSamsonFP) December 27, 2022

When t20i world cup was on the line they picked sanju samson in odi squad and now when the Odi wc is on the line they dropped him from odi side despite having better stats and picked him in t20i side !
What is this logic?#sanjusamon #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/aWy6uR3phY

— Registanroyals (@registanroyals) December 27, 2022

Inform & most destructive Sanju Samson not as wicket keeper in T20 & not selected for ODI whereas formless Rahul still gets place. BCCI is on a mission to make Ishaan as next poster boy, poor Sanju talent & form is not all needed, needed some lobbying also #INDvSL #SanjuSamson pic.twitter.com/EhIHeEPyMO

— MILJO JOHNSON (@miljojohnson) December 27, 2022

Why always with Sanju Samson  @ICC @BCCI @IamSanjuSamson #Puchtahaiindia https://t.co/R7vWVsEAh5

— PNP_ PRINCE YT (@pnp_yt) December 28, 2022

So, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson are now ahead of Rishabh Pant in the T20 pecking order. It was on the cards. Ishan, Ruturaj, Samson and Sky is a fabulous top 4. Expect Rajat Patidar to compete with Hooda and Tripathi for the last batting spot

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 27, 2022

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