Indian men’s cricket team registered a comprehensive 23-run victory over Nepal in the Asian Games quarterfinal match at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field, Hangzhou on Tuesday (October 3).
Yashasvi Jaiswal starred with the bat in India’s win. The left-handed opener played a dazzling knock of 100 in 49 balls with 8 fours and 7 sixes, propelling the team to a mammoth 202/4 in 20 overs.
Defending the total, Indian bowlers restricted Nepal to 179/9. Ravi Bishnoi was the stand-out bowler for India as the leg-spinner three wickets by conceding 24 runs in his four overs.
After the game, veteran Congress leader Shashi Tharoor praised the display of the second-string Indian side but rued the absence of Sanju Samson from the team.
In his post on social media platform X, Tharoor also questioned the inclusion of Jitesh Sharma as a wicketkeeper-batter for the Asian Games.
“Great to see the second-string Indian side in action at the #AsianGames, with @ybj_19 demonstrating again why he is a potential great. But why isn’t @IamSanjuSamson in the side? His record vastly outstrips that of @jiteshsharma, who is older too. Incomprehensible are the ways of our inscrutable selectors!” Shashi Tharoor wrote.
Notably, Sanju Samson was also left out of India’s 2023 World Cup squad last month. Hence, his absence from the second-string Asian Games squad raised a lot of eyebrows.
It is worth mentioning here that Samson is widely regarded as one of the best T20 cricketers in India. He has been leading Rajasthan Royals for the last three IPL seasons. Under him, the Royals played the final of the IPL 2022 season.
