The star India wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson recently shared that he has consistently received encouragement from Rohit Sharma. The former noted that while Sharma acknowledged his batting prowess, he playfully commented on hitting too many sixes, especially against the Mumbai Indians. Despite his impressive ODI record, Samson was not selected for the recently concluded World Cup.
The right-handed batter accumulated 390 runs in 13 matches with an impressive average of 55.71 and a strike rate of 104, including three half-centuries. During an interview on the I AM with Dhanya Varma YouTube channel, the Kerala player mentioned that Rohit Sharma was one of the first people to approach and interact with him. The Rajasthan Royals skipper in the IPL highlighted the valuable support he received from the Indian skipper.
“Rohit Sharma was the first or second person who came to me and talked. He told me ‘hey Sanju, wassup. You performed well in the IPL but hit too many sixes against Mumbai Indians. You bat really well’. I had great support from him,” Samson said.
Sanju Samson Latest interview ✅🚨#SanjuSamson pic.twitter.com/hJWSrzwr3U
— Joel (@Crickfootboi11) November 23, 2023
Let us look at how Twitter has reacted to this statement from Sanju Samson;
Kya fayda select toh phir bhi nahi kara
— Shubham Shrivastav (@shubhshr28) November 24, 2023
Sanju got appreciation
— 𝐊𝐨𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭!𝟎𝐧_👑🚩 (@bholination) November 24, 2023
Tilak got selection
Both are happy🤣
He has been in and out of the team but his performance is also not up to Mark.
— Sujeet Suman (@sujeetsuman1991) November 24, 2023
Most of the time his comeback was based on IPL.. Instead of saying unluckiest cricketer we can tell he is not able to utilise those opportunity pic.twitter.com/LtWKCLYSzW
Hitman sharma always encourages juniors
— GORDXROHIT (@gordxrohit) November 24, 2023
Love you hitman❤❤
Perfect captain selfless man 🇮🇳❤
Rohit Sharma's support meant a lot to Sanju Samson's journey.
— World Hall of Fun (@WorldHallOfFun) November 24, 2023
Just because he hit too many Sixes against Mumbai Indians, he isn’t selected?😦
— Manu (@virat_facts) November 24, 2023
Now you know why he wasn't picked in Indian team. He hit too many sixes against MI 😊😂
— Shreya (@shreyamatsharma) November 24, 2023
Rohit Sharma is the Great Plaayer, Great Captain, Great Leader,Best Friend, Legend, GOAT 🐐
— A K $ H A Y (@Akshay_Patil_07) November 24, 2023
Sanju Samson should be leading the Indian team: Shashi Tharoor
After Samson was not selected in the ongoing T20I series against Australia, there were various former players as well as famous personalities who condemned this decision from the Indian Cricket Board. One of many was Shashi Tharoor who is currently a Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram, who expressed disappointment with the selectors' decision to exclude Sanju Samson from India's T20I squad. Tharoor argued that Samson, with his recent captaincy experience, should have been chosen to lead the team.
“This is truly inexplicable. @IamSanjuSamson should have not just been selected, he should have led the side in the absence of all the seniors. His captaincy experience with Kerala and @rajasthanroyals is more current than SKY’s. Our selectors need to explain themselves to the cricket-loving public. And why no @yuzi_chahal either?” Shashi Tharoor posted on Twitter.
This is truly inexplicable. @IamSanjuSamson should have not just been selected, he should have led the side in the absence of all the seniors. His captaincy experience with Kerala and @rajasthanroyals is more current than SKY's. Our selectors need to explain themselves to the… https://t.co/W251o89jzs
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 21, 2023
The India wicketkeeper batter was excluded from the second-string side that won a gold medal at the Asian Games. Despite the absence of senior players like Rohit and Virat Kohli, the young batter also did not make it into the squad for the ongoing T20I series against Australia.