'Hard To Fathom...' - Former India Player Slams Indian Team Management For Excluding Sanju Samson In Third T20I

Sanju Samson remains one of the greatest mysteries in Indian cricket and for some undisclosed reasons, the player has been ostracized over and over again. The right-handed batter was ignored, yet again, for the third T20I against New Zealand on November 22, Tuesday that ended in a draw and the Indian captain clarified the same saying that it was an ‘unfortunate case’.

Saying that the batter was left out for Strategic reasons, Pandya claimed that the team management and himself, as the captain of the team, wanted to play him in the series. However, on the contrary, Samson was benched for the entire series, causing a wave of disappointment across the country.

“I am a people's man and if anyone feels otherwise, my doors are always open to come and have chat with me. I understand their feelings. Sanju Samson is an unfortunate case. We had to play him but for some strategic reason, we couldn't play him,” Pandya was quoted as saying.

However, former Indian pacer, Dodda Ganesh, took to Twitter and slammed the Indian team management for not giving an opportunity to the right-handed batter. Claiming that the management has not learned from their mistakes, Ganesh said that excluding Samson was not but ‘fathom’.

“Sanju Samson still doesn’t get a game. Hard to fathom this #DoddaMathu #crickettwitter #NZvIND,” Ganesh tweeted. Parenthetically, neither the captain nor the coach, explained what was the 'strategy' behind leaving the player out for the entire series.

Here are Dodda Ganesh's tweets:

Sanju Samson still doesn’t get a game. Hard to fathom this #DoddaMathu #crickettwitter #NZvIND

— Dodda Ganesh | ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಣೇಶ್ (@doddaganesha) November 22, 2022

“By picking Iyer ahead of Samson the Indian think tank has reiterated that they’ll not learn from their mistakes and they shall never change their approach towards T20 #DoddaMathu #crickettwitter,” he tweeted further

By picking Iyer ahead of Samson the Indian think tank has reiterated that they’ll not learn from their mistakes and they shall never change their approach towards T20 #DoddaMathu #crickettwitter #NZvIND

— Dodda Ganesh | ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಣೇಶ್ (@doddaganesha) November 22, 2022

If players feel bad, they can talk to me: Hardik Pandya

Further, the Indian captain said that he is always open to talking to players and listening to their queries. Commenting on sharing a good rapport, Pandya added that he wants his team to be a closely-knit unit.

“If players are feeling bad, they can come and speak to me or the coach. Going forward, if I remain the captain, I don't think that will be an issue. My behaviour and nature ensures that we are a close-knit unit,” Pandya was quoted as saying after the match.

As things stand, the Men in Blue will take on New Zealand in as many ODIs starting from Friday and Shikhar Dhawan, the left-handed batter, is all set to make his return as the captain of the team.