'Sanju Samson Not Included In India's Squad Because ...': Harbhajan Singh

image-lmsnw9p4Sanju Samson has played 13 ODIs [X.com]

The curious case of Sanju Samson remains one of the most baffling mysteries in Indian cricket. Samson, who has played 13 ODIs with limited success, was omitted from India's ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 squad and also snubbed from Asian Games and ODIs against Australia.

Samson's inclusion or exclusion remains the main bone of contention for former players and fans on social media, who have quite polarising views on the wicketkeeper-batter.

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has given his two cents on Samson's exclusion from the marquee event. Speaking on his own YouTube channel, Singh stated that India already have KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan as front-line keeping contenders.

Here's what Singh 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,"

Elaborating more, the 2011 World Cup winner explained how Samson has fallen behind the pecking order as a wicketkeeper-batter, after decent performances from both Rahul and Kishan in Asia Cup 2023.

"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. 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, and 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,"

Overall, in 13 ODIs from 2021, the 28-year-old has scored 390 runs with three fifties at an impressive average of 55.7.