Picture Credit: Twitter
While India is playing against New Zealand in the three match T20I & ODI series, there are some senior players who have been rested from this tour. Virat Kohli, skipper Rohit Sharma, Mohammad Shami, R Ashwin are few big names who have been left out after Team India’s T20 World Cup 2022 debacle.
Although Hardik Pandya-led Men in Blue clinched the T20I series 1-0 in a rain-curtailed affair, the side is now playing the first match of the ODI series under Shikhar Dhawan’s leadership.
Sanju Sasom, who missed a chance in the T20I series has been named in the Playing XI of the 1 st ODI. He scored 36 off 38 balls before being caught by Glenn Phillips. All-rounder Hardik Pandya who did make a statement on Sanju Samson’s absence from the T20Is, received a lot of mixed reactions. While all-rounder R Ashwin lauded the young star player for his way of responding to the question in the post-match conference.
The veteran spinner lauded stand-in skipper for channeling his inner MS Dhoni while responding to a query on Sanju Samson in his YouTube channel.
“He knows it’s not personal. It’s got to do with the situation. I am a peoples’ person. So if anyone needs me, I will be there for them. Everyone knows that if they feel anything at all, my doors are always open for them to come and have a chat with me”, Pandya had said.
Veteran all-rounder gave a special mention in his YouTube video, stating, “I don’t know if he wanted to say that in Thala Dhoni’s style because we all know that Hardik is super close to Thala Dhoni. He handled a tricky question that is always trending on social media very beautifully. So, kudos to Hardik”.
Ashwin hasn’t been named in the Indian squad for Bangladesh tour. Meanwhile, skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, all will return in the Indian colours for the ODI series.