Why Sanju Samson is not playing today: India hand debuts to Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan in Colombo ODI

Dixit Bhargav | 18/07/2021
Why Sanju Samson is not playing today: India hand debuts to Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan in Colombo ODI

Why Sanju Samson is not playing: India have included a couple of debutants for the first ODI at the R Premdasa Stadium.

During the first ODI of the ongoing India’s tour of Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka has won the toss and chose to bat in his first ODI as a captain.

“We are going to bat first. History suggests batting first is ideal here [R Premdasa Stadium]. We have a debutant, it’s Bhanuka Rajapaksa,” Shanaka was quoted as saying during the toss.

Sri Lanka, who haven’t won a bilateral ODI series against India since 1997, have a huge challenge lying in front of them in the form of this three-match series.

Why Sanju Samson is not playing 1st ODI vs Sri Lanka?

India captain Shikhar Dhawan, who is leading India for the first time at the highest level, also wanted to bat first but it won’t be the case now. Expected to hand at least a couple of debuts, India have included the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan for the first ODI. It is worth mentioning that Yadav and Kishan had made their T20I debut in the same match earlier this year.

“We were also looking to bat first as dew factor will come into play. [Prithvi] Shaw will open along with me. [Ishan] Kishan and Suryakumar [Yadav] will make their debuts. Kuldeep [Yadav] and [Yuzvendra] Chahal are the two spinners playing for us,” Dhawan was quoted as saying during the toss.

In addition to vice-captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar, India have included Deepak Chahar as the second specialist pacer ahead of Navdeep Saini and Chetan Sakariya.

Is Sanju Samson injured?

Kishan’s inclusion means that another wicket-keeper batsman Sanju Samson will have to further wait for his ODI debut. Being a left-handed batsman, the same should have ideally worked in Kishan’s favour in addition to his better List A average and strike rate than Samson. Having said that, Samson has missed out on selection in this match due to an injury.

“Sanju Samson sprained a ligament in his knee and hence was not available for selection for this game,” read an official statement from the BCCI.

Post Edited By: Dixit Bhargav
India India tour of Sri Lanka 2021 ishan kishan Sanju Samson Sri Lanka Suryakumar Yadav

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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