RR captain Sanju Samson has been named the 15-member India squad for the T20 World Cup. The Board of Control for Cricket in India named the preliminary squad on Tuesday, 30 April, one day ahead of the deadline day. Samson has been incredible in the IPL 2024 and has pipped KL Rahul and Jitesh Sharma for the 2nd wicketkeeper's spot.
Samson has been rewarded for his sensational form in the IPL 2024, where he has led RR to 8 wins from the first 9 matches. The wicketkeeper-batter was in competition with KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik and Jitesh Sharma but pipped the competition with consistent performances throughout the tournament.
Samson is currently in the 6th position in the Orange Cap list with 385 runs from 9 matches. Samson has batted at a strike rate of 161 with an average of 77. Former Australia captain and T20 World Cup winner Aaron Finch had lauded Samson for his incredible performances in the ongoing edition of the tournament.
"He's been playing really mature innings and that's what is required for the team. I think in times of T20 cricket, the ego of the batsman can get in the way of what the team needs sometimes but he's been playing each and every situation exactly how it's needed to be done," Aaron Finch had said after the MI game on Star Sports.
"I think he's leading the side unbelievably well, you can see how calm the Rajasthan Royals are when they're under pressure. And I think that the only game they lost was when they had that meltdown against GT right at the back end of the game, so they've been so clinical right throughout this IPL and a lot of credit has to go to Sanju for that," Aaron Finch had concluded.
India play their first match of the tournament on June 5 against Ireland. Samson has a loyal following in the USA and is expected to get huge cheers from the crowd.
Rohit Sharma (c), Yashashvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav. Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal. Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Travelling Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rimku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan.
