Sanju Samson says he is not ‘unluckiest cricketer’; reveals Rohit's support
Indian cricket fans were upset with the Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI selection panel for once again not picking Samson in the T20I squad.
India’s wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson was once again ignored for national team selection as the BCCI selectors picked a young squad under Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy to face Australia in a five-match T20I series.
The 29-year-old Samson was not part of the Indian team that played in the ICC World Cup 2023. India, under Rohit Sharma, lost the World Cup final to Australia in Ahmedabad on Sunday (November 19).
From that World Cup squad, only three cricketers – Suryakumar, Ishan Kishan, and Prasidh Krishna are part of the ongoing India versus Australia T20I series. India won the opening game in Visakhapatnam on Thursday (November 23).
Indian cricket fans were upset with the Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI selection panel for once again not picking Samson in the T20I squad. The Kerala cricketer was not chosen for the Asian Games 2022 competition in Hangzhou where India won the gold medal under Ruturaj Gaikwad’s captaincy.
Samson’s last match, a T20I, for India, was on August 20 this year when the team toured Ireland.
In an interview, Samson has opened up about him being labelled as the “unluckiest cricketer” by fans and also spoke about Rohit’s support.
“I come with a different kind of feeling where it's all about passion. It's about miracles, it's about intuition, it's about feelings. Because my life is completely like that. I'm not interested in that. "Sanju, poor thing. The most unluckiest cricketer". When I hear that, I feel "what kind of foolishness is that?" How am I an unluckiest cricketer? Like where I have reached right now, I think it's much more than where I thought I could,” Samson said on YouTube channel ‘I AM with Dhanya Varma’.
On what Rohit told him, Samson said, “But I feel the first or second person who came and talked to me was Rohit (Sharma) Bhai. ‘Sanju, how are you? All good? You did very well in IPL. You hit a lot of sixes against Mumbai Indians. You are batting really well.’ Like, there is a great support from him.”
In the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, Samson is leading Kerala. During the team’s match against Mumbai in Alur near Bengaluru, Samson scored 55 on Saturday (November 25).
Samson has so far played 13 ODIs and 24 T20Is for India. As India will face Australia in the second T20I on Sunday (November 26) in Samson’s home state – Kerala, one can expect banners and placards supporting the cricketer during the game at Thiruvananthapuram’s Greenfield International Stadium.
