Sanju Samson not finding a spot in India’s playing XI for the major part of the white-ball tour to New Zealand has become a topic of debate.

Notably, Samson sat out the entire T20 series while he played only one ODI to be benched again as Rishabh Pant made the cut.

Before this tour, the wicketkeeper-batter was overlooked for the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia while he is also not part of the upcoming ODI tour of Bangladesh.

Samson’s axing has led to fans and former cricketers criticizing the Indian team management. Meanwhile, former India opener Wasim Jaffer also extended his support to Kerala lad, urging the team management to give him a consistent run of at least 10 games.

“Yes, I feel Samson, because he is in such a good form and he is not getting consistent run. I feel he deserves this. Even in T20 cricket or ODI cricket, he must have a consistent run of let’s say ten games,” Jaffer told ESPNCricinfo.

“When you have a large talent pool and there are a lot of options, it may cause trouble for you. The management must chalk out 18-20 players that this our core team and focus on them,” he added.

Addressing the media after the third ODI, stand-in skipper Shikhar Dhawan said Rishabh Pant is a match winner while Sanju will have to wait for his chance.

“Overall, you have to see the larger picture and who is your match winner. You analyse and your decisions are based on that,” he said at the post-match interaction.

“Of course, Sanju Samson has been doing really well in whatever opportunity he got. But sometimes you got to wait for your chances because the other player has done well, and we know based on his (Pant’s) skill that he’s a match-winner. So, you need to back him when he’s not doing well,” he added.