‘No question mark on India’s T20I wicketkeeper’: Sanju Samson backed captain Suryakumar Yadav | Cricket News
Amid an ongoing turmoil with his home state after his Vijay Hazare Trophy no-show and Champions Trophy snub, Kerala wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson has found some backing from his T20I captain, Suryakumar Yadav.
Under the fire despite his impressive T20I outings across India’s last five international matches, Samson was under the spotlight in the last week after being dropped from Kerala’s Vijay Hazare Trophy after his state board was left fuming when the senior player decided to skip a camp that was later deemed mandatory. Eventhough the KCA later backtracked on the necessity of the camp for selection, Samson came under the scanner for his laid-back approach at a time when BCCI has tightened the screws on international cricketers turning up for domestic games.
With KCA president Jayesh George last week slamming Samson and affirming that he cannot “turn up for Kerala whenever he feels like”, the upcoming five-match T20I series against England has become a crucial iteration for the 30-year-old.
Samson can breathe easy as his captain Suryakumar has backed him to continue manning the gloves behind the stumps as well as open the batting with the left-handed Abhishek Sharma. Samson had a breakout 2024 season post India’s T20 World Cup triumph wherein he slammed three T20I centuries in the space of five innings against Bangladesh and South Africa, making him the first-ever batter to achieve the feat in a calendar year while also topping the charts for India in the season.
“Currently, there is no question mark on the wicketkeeper,” Suryakumar said on the eve of India’s first T20I against England at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
“Sanju has done really well in the last seven-eight games. He has shown what he is capable of,” added the skipper.
Samson had led Kerala in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in early December 2024 before opted for a break before expressing his availability for the 50-over VHT tournament. However, Kerala refused to add their star batter back into the squad before they were dumped out of the tournament in the group stage.
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