Sanju Samson’s scoop shot off Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Picture Credit: Twitter

As the Shikhar Dhawan-led Indian team prepares itself for the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka, eyes of the Indian fans will be on the youngsters during this tour. Along with some big names like captain Shikhar Dhawan, vice-captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar and all-rounder Hardik Pandya, a number of youngsters, who have impressed in the IPL and the domestic matches, will also be looking to justify their selection.

In the 20-man squad named for the tour, there are six uncapped players. One player for whom this series is very important is wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson. The Rajasthan Royals skipper has been in and out of the Indian side over the past couple of years. The Kerala boy will have one eye on the T20 squad for the World Cup which will be played in October-November later this year.

Samson shines in practice game ahead of Sri Lanka series

In a latest video doing rounds on social media, Sanju could be seen hammering the Indian bowlers during practice game. Vice-captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar was on the receiving end of some of these shots. During the practice, Samson middled the ball with perfection, making a strong case for himself for the Playing XI of India. In the video, the right-handed batsman could also be seen playing an amazing scoop shot off Bhuvi. Kumar tried to bowl wide of off stump but Samson picked the length of the ball early and played the shot. Apart from the surprising scoop, Sanju played some eye-catching shots off Deepak Chahar and Navdeep Saini.

India play three ODIs and three T20s starting 18th July

Shikhar Dhawan and coach Rahul Dravid have a tough job to pick a strong XI for the first ODI which will be played in Colombo on 18th July. One of Ishan Kishan or Sanju Samson will keep wickets and may be introduced to a new role batting down the order, according to former India cricketer Aakash Chopra. Hardik Pandya looks set to make his comeback into the side, while the spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal are also raring to go. On paper, this Indian side looks strong enough to beat a depleted Sri Lankan side who have a lot of problems on and off-field in their camp.