New Delhi (Sports Desk): India’s wicketkeeper–batter Sanju Samson is likely to lose his place in the Champions Trophy 2025 starting from February 19. Pakistan and India will be the hosting nations, while all Indian matches will be played in Dubai.
Samson has been given a raw deal excluding him from the second string one-day squad despite being in line to make his T20I debut for India in the five-match series away at England’s. Rajasthan Royals’ top-order specialist Sanju Samson whose last ODI for India was in the series-decider against South Africa in Paarl on December 21, 2023.
The report also said that KL Rahul, who was a wicketkeeper during the World Cup 2023, will open as a batsman in the Champions Trophy, while Rishabh Pant would be preferred as the team’s first-choice wicketkeeper.
The names of three contenders for the position of the backup wicketkeeper are Dhruv Jurel, Ishan Kishan, and Sanju Samson. But, going by recent form, it looks rather bleak as Samson skipped the last edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy due to some issues.
He also names the playing eleven for the first two matches and says that Sanju Samson will be opening the batting for India along with Abhishek Sharma.
At the peak of his powers at the moment, the wicketkeeper-batter broke the record of most T20I tons in a year by becoming the first cricketer to register three hundreds in that format in a year. He is also the second player and joins England’s Phil Salt to score two hundred runs in a bilateral T20 international series.
BCCI has withheld the announcement of the team that would be representing India at the Champions Trophy, ostensibly because there is doubt over the availability of Bumrah and Yadav.
