Sanju Samson didn’t make the Indian team for the opening T20I matchup with Ireland, but he still made an impression at the Malahide Cricket Club Ground. Social media users have posted pictures of the captain of the Rajasthan Royals posing for selfies with spectators.
Samson is a member of the team travelling to Ireland to play two T20I matches. He is, however, a distant second choice behind first-choice wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant. Ishan Kishan and Dinesh Karthik have been preferred over Sanju Samson for the playing XI plans. In the first T20I, Kishan played exclusively as a batter while Karthik maintained the wickets.
Former Indian pacer and Gujarat Titans coach, Ashish Nehra stated that it was not a tough call for the management to prefer Deepak Hooda over Sanju Samson.
“No, it’s not a tough call at all. Sanju Samson and Rahul Tripathi have come in place of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant. Deepak Hooda was already in the squad, and even Venkatesh Iyer didn’t play a match against South Africa. And the kind of performance Deepak Hooda put in the IPL, as he is one of those players who played for Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy, the whole season he scored runs, then in the IPL also,” he said in a pre-match show on SonyLIV.
“He started the tournament, playing at 5 or 6 (for LSG) and then he was promoted to number three, and there also he did well. So, his confidence must be high.”