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India drop Sanju Samson but Suryakumar Yadav makes him a part of 1st ODI vs West Indies, Twitter erupts
Sanju Samson may not have been picked for the series opener against West Indies but he was present as a "fielder", thanks to Suryakumar Yadav.
India sprang in a surprise by picking Ishan Kishan over Sanju Samson in the first ODI against the West Indies at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown in Barbados. Kishan was ahead of Samson in the pecking order but the fact that he generally bats at the top of the order which will be occupied by Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill in this series made Samson the ideal candidate to keep wickets and made in the middle-order. The Indian team management, however, decided to go with Kishan, perhaps because of the left-hander's advantage.
As per the team sheet shared by BCCI, Kishan is listed to bat at No.4 followed by Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav. It will be interesting to see how Kishan goes at No.4 as he has batted between No.4 and 7 only six times in his ODI career so far.
Samson, for his part, will be feeling hard done by. He has been away from the limited-overs sides due to an injury but he had dished out some impressive performances before that.
Samson may not have been picked for the series opener but he was present as a "fielder", thanks to Suryakumar Yadav. SKY was seen fielding wearing Samson's jersey as cameras panned towards him in the first over of the match bowled by Hardik Pandya. Netizens were quick to spot that as screenshots of SKY fielding in Samson's jersey went viral.
Twitter erupts as Suryakumar Yadav spotted wearing Sanju Samson's jersey in India vs West Indies 1st ODI
This is an important series for Suryakumar, who hasn't been able to translate his T20I form into the 50-over format yet. With KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer set to be available for selection for Asia Cup, these three ODIs will be the last opportunity for SKY to stake claim in the Indian middle-order.
If the team sheet is anything to go by then it appears that he has been given a new role. Instead of batting at No.4, he has been given the role of a finisher and is slated to bat at No.6.
Meanwhile, Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and put West Indies in to bat. As Mohammed Siraj was released from the squad due to a sore ankle, India handed debut to young pacer Mukesh Kumar. Fresh from a 1-0 Test series triumph, the visitors are shifting gears to prepare for the hosting of the ICC World Cup in just over two months' time.
In contrast, the hosts are licking deep self-inflicted wounds as the two-time World Cup winners have failed, for the first time, to qualify for the showpiece event.
Both sides have hedged their bets on the playing conditions with two specialist spinners in each 11 to support the seamers.
India have won the last eight ODI's against the West Indies, although they were pushed hard by the Caribbean side at the start of the corresponding series a year ago.
