T20 World Cup 2022: Is Sanju Samson playing?

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently announced India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia. Rohit Sharma will lead the side, in search of their first world title since 2013.
India, under the leadership of Virat Kohli, had a disappointing run in the last T20 World Cup in UAE, where the team couldn’t qualify for the semi-final after two defeats in the league-stage game; one against Pakistan and another against New Zealand. In the recently concluded Asia Cup too, Sharma and co. couldn’t go ahead of the Super 4 stage.

Despite, these major setbacks, the side has done an exceptional job of winning the three-match T20I series versus England last month, that too away from home. With Kohli being back with the bat and some exciting talents in the middle, India are still a mighty crew to play against for any side.

Talking about India’s T20 World Cup squad, the selectors’ panel has opted for Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik, as far as the wicketkeepers are concerned. And for the middle order, they have Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, and Shreyas Iyer (standby player) on the board, which denies a place for Sanju Samson, the Rajasthan Royals skipper and the Indian wicketkeeper batter.
The panel also announced the Indian squads for the forthcoming T20I series against Australia and South Africa. Samson hasn’t made it into any of these squads, which has been a talk of the cricketing town for now.

Related: India’s World Cup 2022 Squad

India’s squad for T20 World Cup 2022

Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.

Reserves: Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar.

Samson bats in the middle (at number three) for Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He has also played just as a batter sometimes, but usually keeps the wickets. Samson was also dropped from India’s T20WC 2021 campaign. The righty batter has notched 179 runs in six T20 international innings at an average of 44.75 this year. The last time he wore the Indian jersey was against West Indies where India played five games and Samson two. He also performed pretty well in the IPL 2022 where he scored 458 runs in 17 games at a strike rate of 146.79.

Although, the selectors don’t seem to be seeking another wicketkeeper batter with Pant and Karthik already being on the board. Karthik’s experience and hard-hitting skills in the lower middle are going to be vital deeming his IPL 2022 cameos. Pant, perhaps, has been with the Indian team for a long time now, and can’t be left out. Hooda, moreover, provides an occasional bowling option along with being an explosive middle-order batter, and his form in the shorter format has shadowed Samson’s presence.

Samson has been better in the 50-over format for India, undoubtedly. Although, it shouldn’t be the end of the world for the 27-year-old, considering his abilities and performance he can bring on. Although, for now, Samson will not play in the T20 WC 2022.

India vs Pakistan – again!

Besides, India will commence their T20WC campaign with a much-anticipated clash versus Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in a Super 12 stage game on October 23. While the ultimate game of the tournament will be played on November 13, at the MCG, again.

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