‘If I had been in Sanju’s place, I would have been very disappointed’: Irfan Pathan – Dainik Savera Times
New Delhi: Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan, reacting to Sanju Samson’s exclusion from the ODI series against Australia, said that if he had been in Samson’s place, he would have been very disappointed. India played three matches against Australia before the World Cup. Announced a 17-man squad for the ODI series in which stars like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav will not be included in the first two matches.
Reacting to the announcement of India’s squad for the three-match series against Australia, Pathan wrote on X (formerly Twitter): ‘If I were in Sanju Samson’s place right now, I would be very disappointed… ‘The surprising thing is that Tilak Verma and Ruturaj Gaikwad were given preference over Samson. Verma, who recently made his ODI debut, was out for just five runs in the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 game against Bangladesh. Meanwhile, Gaikwad is set to lead the second-string Indian team at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China later this month.Samson, who was already left out of the World Cup squad, was recently Was named as reserve for Asia Cup 2023.
The 28-year-old has so far scored 390 runs in 13 ODIs at an average of 55.71, which includes three half-centuries. The wicketkeeper-batsman scored 51 runs in 41 balls in his last ODI against West Indies. Samson has showcased his talent as a versatile batsman in the Indian team, but he has not been given a chance to shine consistently. Against Australia Indian team for the first two ODIs: KL Rahul (captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Tilak Verma, Prasidh Krishna, Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar.
Indian team for the third ODI against Australia (17 members): Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, Virat Kohli, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel (fitness assessment), Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar.
