“India already had two wicketkeepers”- Harbhajan Singh tells the reason of Sanju Samson not getting selected.

Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh believes that Sanju Samson’s absence from the Indian squad for the upcoming ODIs against Australia and the World Cup is unfortunate. Despite boasting an impressive ODI average of 55.71, Samson has been left out, sparking outrage on social media.

Harbhajan Singh attempted to shed light on why Samson may have been overlooked in favor of players like KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan for the wicketkeeper position. He personally expressed his preference for KL Rahul over Samson in ODIs.

Harbhajan Singh on his YT channel said “Sanju Samson’s exclusion has raised a lot of debates. If you average 55 in ODIs and still don’t be a part of the squad then definitely that’s strange. But I think Sanju wasn’t selected because India already had two wicketkeepers KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan. Both are also a part of the World Cup squad.”

“Sanju will need to wait for his chance. I know it is difficult to accept sometimes and one can get disheartened. But age is on his side and I urge him to continue putting in the hard yards and wait for his time.”

Furthermore, given Ishan Kishan’s promising performance against Pakistan, Harbhajan feels that Samson faces stiff competition to secure a spot in the current lineup.

“If I have to choose between KL Rahul and Sanju Samson, I would definitely select Rahul because of the stability he provides at No.4, No.5. Samson is also a good player and can hit sixes at will, but the situation now is such that you can’t have three wicketkeeper-batters in a team. It will be difficult to field all of them in the XI.”