'Beyond cricketing rationale': Ex-pacer Dodda Ganesh on dropping Sanju Samson for Shreyas Iyer for West Indies T20Is

Former India pacer Dodda Ganesh has questioned the exclusion of talented batter Sanju Samson from the squad for the five-match T20I series against West Indies that starts in the Caribbean on 29 July. Shreyas Iyer was preferred over Sanju Samson in the squad, while Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal all remain absent from the 18-member squad. Dodda Ganesh wrote in a tweet on Thursday that dropping Samson for Shreyas Iyer was ‘beyond cricketing rationale’. “Ideally, you would want to players like Sanju Samson in the T20s. Ignoring him for Shreyas Iyer is beyond cricketing rationale #DoddaMathu #CricketTwitter #WIvIND”, the 49-year-old tweeted.

Ideally, you would want to players like Sanju Samson in the T20s. Ignoring him for Shreyas Iyer is beyond cricketing rationale #DoddaMathu #CricketTwitter #WIvIND

— Dodda Ganesh | ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಣೇಶ್ (@doddaganesha) July 14, 2022

Samson, in fact, scored a match-winning 77 against Ireland in a T20I recently, prior to the England series. Although he found a place in the squad for the first T20I against England, Samson found himself absent from the second and third T20Is, with the likes of Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant returning to the side. So far this year, Samson has scored 134 runs from four T20Is, at an average of 44.66. Samson even amassed 458 runs in the IPL this season, as Rajasthan Royals reached the final, losing to Gujarat Titans. Meanwhile, KL Rahul, who had recently underwent surgery for sports hernia, has been included in the T20I side for the West Indies series, while Kuldeep was also picked in the side. The inclusion of both Rahul and Kuldeep are subject to fitness. Shreyas Iyer, meanwhile, has struggled while playing against short balls, with his most recent one coming against England in the third T20I. He managed only 28 runs off 23 balls in the game.