Sanju Samson ruled out of India's Champions Trophy squad despite scoring 3 tons and averaging 56: Harbhajan's pick

Sanju Samson has been in outstanding form in white-ball cricket recently, with impressive performances in T20Is. Despite his stellar performances, former spinner Harbhajan Singh believes that Samson might not make it to the Indian squad for the Champions Trophy. Samson has scored three centuries in his last five T20I innings, showcasing his immense talent and ability in the shortest format of the game.

This has led to a clamour for Samson to be included in the squad for the Champions Trophy despite him last playing a 50-over match December 2023. Harbhajan himself had earlier said that the Kerala wicketkeeper-batter would find a place in his Indian squad for the Champions Trophy but he has now said that Samson could be ignored because of his absence from the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy.

“He has made three centuries in his last five matches and despite this and the average of about 56 that he has in ODIs, I don't think he is a sure shot entry in the team. I had him in the team I made for the Champions Trophy but what the selectors and the team management think, that is quite different,” said Harbhajan on his Youtube channel.

“I feel he should be getting a spot. If a person is scoring three centuries in five matches, that means that he is in a zone where he can't be stopped. He is in form, he is confident, he made two centuries in South Africa, it's a big thing if you score tons away from home.”

Samson's absence from the Vijay Hazare Trophy

While Samson's lack of international appearances has been largely due to other players being preferred over him over the years, Harbhajan said that this time, his absence from the Vijay Hazare Trophy could be the cause for the snub. The Kerala Cricket Association reportedly dropped Samson from the state squad after he expressed his unavailability for a preparatory camp ahead of the tournament.

"We have seen that he doesn't get too many chances but this time his problems might be different. They might say that he has not played Vijay Hazare Trophy. That happened because of something taht happened between him and the Kerala Cricket Association which I don't know much about. And because of this there is a chance that the selectors may decide to not pick him.

“But I would say one needs to really investigate as to what happened. Was it his own desire to not play or did it happen because of some other restrictions. All those things should be considered before making a decision," said Harbhajan.

'Samson deserves to go based on his T20I performance'

Harbhajan pointed out that there have been numerous instances in the past of players being selected for a format because of the runs they made in another format.

“We saw that Rohit Sharma made big runs in ODI cricket and he was eventually selected in the Test team. Everyone is saying Yashasvi will come (in the ODI team) and I feel that should happen as well, he is a very good player. But if he is selected, it will be on the basis of his good show in the Australia Tests. If Yashasvi can come into the ODI squad after scoring runs in Test cricket, why can't Sanju come in after scoring in T20s,” said Harbhajan.

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