Irfan Pathan on Samson’s omission from ODI series against Australia

NEW DELHI: Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan reacted to Sanju Samson's omission from ODI series squad against Australia, saying he would be bitterly disappointed if he was in Samson's position.

India announced a 17-man for the three-match ODI series against Australia preceding the World Cup, in which stars like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav won't feature in the first two games.

Reacting to India's squad announcement for the three-match series against Australia, Pathan wrote on X (formerly Twitter): "If I’m in place of @IamSanjuSamson right now, I will be very disappointed..."

Surprisingly, Tilak Varma and Ruturaj Gaikwad were preferred over Samson. Varma, who recently made his ODI debut, departed for just five runs in the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4 game against Bangladesh. Gaikwad, meanwhile, is set to lead the second-string India side in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China later this month.

Samson, who was already omitted from the World Cup squad, was named as a reserve for the Asia Cup 2023 that recently concluded.

The 28-year-old has 390 runs in 13 ODIs at an average of 55.71, including three half-centuries so far. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 51 off 41 in his last ODI outing against the West Indies.

Samson has displayed his talent as a versatile batsman in the Indian team, but has not been given a consistent opportunity to shine.

India squad for the first two ODIs against Australia:

KL Rahul (cap), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Mohammad Shami, Tilak Varma, Prasidh Krishna, Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar.

India squad for the third ODI against Australia (17 members):

Rohit Sharma (cap), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Mohammad Shami, Hardik Pandya, Virat Kohli, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel (subject to fitness assessment), Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar.