Asia Cup 2023: Sanju Samson Set To Be Dropped, Cricket World Cup 2023 Dream Over For Rajasthan Royals Skipper?

Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson failed with the bat in the five-match T20I series against West Indies this month.

Team India batter Sanju Samson (right). (Photo: AP)

Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson’s run in the Indian cricket team is set to come to an end after his disastrous run in the ODI and T20I series against the West Indies. After ending the ODI series with an impressive 51 in the third and final ODI, Samson has run of 12, 7 and 13 in the three T20I matches against West Indies in a series which India lost 2-3.

Although Samson has been picked for the three-match T20I series against Ireland beginning in Dublin on Friday, it is unlikely that the wicket-keeper batter will be selected for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023, according to a report in Times of India newspaper on Thursday. If Samson is dropped for the Asia Cup 2023 it could also mean the end of the road for him for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 as well.

The Asia Cup 2023 will get underway in Multan on August 30, while India playing their first match against Pakistan on September 2. “Right now, the selectors are likely to only pick the Asia Cup team. The World Cup squad will mostly be picked later,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by TOI.

The RR skipper has an impressive ODI average of 55.71 in 13 matches but with KL Rahul set to return to the side and Ishan Kishan scoring three successive fifties in his ‘Player of the Series’ performance against West Indies last month, it could mean Samson might well be sidelined.

According to the TOI report, apart from Jasprit Bumrah, another pacer Prasidh Krishna might also make a comeback for Asia Cup 2023, after last playing for India against Zimbabwe at Harare on August 20, 2022 before he was ruled out due to a stress fracture of the back.

“Prasidh can generate pace and bounce and will give a new dimension to our pace attack. Before they pick the team for the Asia Cup, it will be nice if the selectors get to watch both Bumrah and Prasidh bowl in the opening T20I against Ireland on August 18,” the BCCI source told TOI.

_ The curious case of Sanju Samson. Watch the full video here_https://t.co/RsNtX3QS1F #cricket #SanjuSamson pic.twitter.com/FrSsVkWSpe

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) August 15, 2023

According to the TOI report, the BCCI selectors are set to select the Team India squad on Sunday after seeing both Bumrah and Krishna in action in at least the first T20I match against Ireland on Friday.

“Rahul is by and large fit, and is ‘keeping wickets too, while Shreyas Iyer (operated for a back injury) is still not 100 per cent. Both have taken part in match simulations at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore and will play a practice match soon. The fitness of the players who are back from the West Indies tour will also be assessed by the team and NCA's physios. Hence the delay in naming the team,” the TOI report stated.