Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has expressed his disappointment with the selectors for overlooking Sanju Samson in the India squad for the upcoming ODI series against Australia. Kaif believes Samson would have been a more impactful option than Dhruv Jurel in the lower middle order, especially in Australian conditions where power-hitting is key.
Sanju’s Power-Hitting Ability Could Have Boosted India in Australia
While acknowledging Jurel’s impressive century against the West Indies in the recent Test in Ahmedabad, Kaif emphasized that Sanju Samson’s proven six-hitting ability and composure under pressure make him a stronger contender for the No. 5 or 6 spot.
“𝑱𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒍 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅. 𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒕, 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒋𝒖 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 — 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓-𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆,” 𝑲𝒂𝒊𝒇 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝑻𝒖𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍.
Kaif further argued that Sanju Samson’s strength against spin bowling could have been a major asset for India during the Australian tour.
“𝑨𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒕, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒙𝒆𝒔, 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒔𝒐𝒏’𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒔𝒊𝒂 𝑪𝒖𝒑. 𝑰𝒏 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂, 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑨𝒅𝒂𝒎 𝒁𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒂. 𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑 10 𝒔𝒊𝒙-𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝑷𝑳 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒕 𝑵𝒐. 5 𝒐𝒓 6,” 𝑲𝒂𝒊𝒇 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
The 15-man ODI squad includes Dhruv Jurel and KL Rahul (expected to keep wickets), while Sanju Samson joins the team later for the T20I leg, alongside Jitesh Sharma.
Kaif Compares Jadeja to ‘Evergreen’ Dev Anand
Switching focus, Kaif also showered praise on Ravindra Jadeja, likening him to legendary Bollywood actor Dev Anand for his consistency and evergreen nature on the field. The former batter hailed Jadeja’s ability to deliver in all formats while staying away from the limelight.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝑫𝒆𝒗 𝑨𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒅 — 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 ‘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏’ 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓. 𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝑱𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒋𝒂,” 𝑲𝒂𝒊𝒇 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔, 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒌𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔. 𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑵𝒐. 1 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍-𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒓 — 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉.”
Kaif also explained why Washington Sundar was preferred over Jadeja for the ODI series, pointing out the need for variety in the bowling lineup.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚, 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒔 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒅. 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑲𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒙𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕-𝒂𝒓𝒎 𝒐𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝑺𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓’𝒔 𝒐𝒇𝒇-𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆,” 𝑲𝒂𝒊𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Kaif’s remarks have reignited discussions around India’s selection strategy, with many fans echoing his sentiment that Sanju Samson’s omission could prove costly in the fast-paced conditions Down Under.
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