“One name that I would have wanted to see was Sanju Samson” - Ex-Indian spinner opens up on keeper-batter’s exclusion from ODIs

Former Indian cricketer Anil Kumble has opened up on the keeper-batter Sanju Samson’s constant omission from the Indian ODI team. Notably, the Kerala batter has been excluded from the forthcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa, which is scheduled to start on Sunday, November 30.

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Speaking exclusively on JioHotstar, Kumble asserted that he would have loved to see Samson part of the ODI squad. Interestingly, the keeper-batter last played an ODI in South Africa in December 2023.

“One name that I would have wanted to see was Sanju Samson as well, because I think the last ODI that he played a couple of years ago, I know he was not a part of the Australia ODI squad, but Sanju got a hundred,” Anil Kumble said on JioHotstar.

“So I think when you play these three different formats or two formats, you tend to mix up the form and everything else. So that is something that I think one needs to keep in mind when you are picking squads,” he added.

For the unversed, Tilak Varma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, and Rishabh Pant made it to the ODI squad for the upcoming series against South Africa. However, Samson failed to make it. Interestingly, he wasn’t part of the Australian tour as well in the 50-over format.

Samson has played a total of 16 ODIs so far, accumulating 510 runs at an average of 56.66 with a century and three half-centuries. On the other hand, Samson would be seen captaining his state side Kerala in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26 campaign. 

With Shubman Gill likely to miss the upcoming five-match T20I series against South Africa, Samson is most likely to get back to his opening spot with Abhishek Sharma.

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