Kerala wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson was once again overlooked for India selection, and it has caused quite a stir on social media once again.

The BCCI recently revealed the squad for the upcoming 5-match T20I series against Australia, starting in Vizag on Thursday (November 23), and the national selectors once again overlooked Samson.

The Indian selectors selected the uncapped Jitesh Sharma as the second wicketkeeper-batter after Ishan Kishan and left out the experienced keeper, which left many surprised.

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Like many cricket fans, Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor has criticized the BCCI’s decision to leave out the Kerala player from India's squad for the upcoming T20I series against Australia.

Tharoor, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, even said that Samson should have been made Indian captain in place of Suryakumar Yadav for the T20I series. He also questioned the wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s non-inclusion in the Indian squad for the Australia series.

Shashi Tharoor wrote on X: “This is truly inexplicable. Sanju Samson should have not just been selected, he should have led the side in the absence of all the seniors. His captaincy experience with Kerala and Rajasthan Royals is more current than SKY’s. Our selectors need to explain themselves to the cricket-loving public. And why no Yuzvendra Chahal either.”

Notably, the first T20I between India and Australia will be played in Visakhapatnam on Thursday, while the final game will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on December 3.

India’s squad for Australia T20Is: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Shreyas Iyer (last 2 matches).