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There were a few eyebrows raised when Australia announced their 23-member preliminary squad for the limited-overs tour to the West Indies. While the team featured most of the prominent players, there were a few notable absentees. While it was revealed that Marnus Labuschagne missed out due to the COVID-19 restrictions as the batsman is currently playing County cricket in England. However, there was no justification given about the exclusion of all-rounder Daniel Sams.
The 28-year-old has been one of the most Australian impressive players in the shortest format of the game. After an impressive campaign in BBL, Sams was also a part of the side that played against New Zealand in a thrilling T20I series. The all-rounder had however tested positive for Coronavirus ahead of IPL 2021 and had a tough time in the bio-bubble. While he did recover to play for RCB later, the tournament had to be suspended due to the outbreak of virus in the bio-bubble.
The all-rounder takes time off from cricket
According to reports, Daniel Sams was not dropped from the Australia side. Instead, the all-rounder had asked the board for a break pertaining his mental health and personal issues. It could have been a result of spending so many days in various bio-bubbles, resulting in fatigue.
With so much pressure of performing at the biggest stage, the issue of mental health among the players is quite common nowadays. Players like Glenn Maxwell, Will Pucovski and Nic Maddinson have taken breaks from the game in past and the fans would hope that Sams could be back on the field as early as possible, with a good state of mind.
