SL vs IND: Samson, Abhishek’s exclusion hard to understand, says Harbhajan Singh

Former Indian veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh admitted Sanju Samson (ODI), and Abhishek Sharma’s (both squads) exclusion for the series against Sri Lanka is hard to understand. Samson scored a fine knock of 108 runs off 114 balls in his last ODI against South Africa and helped India post 296 runs on the board.

Furthermore, Samson scored a fine knock of 58 runs off 45 balls in the fifth T20I against Zimbabwe. While Samson was able to retain his place in the T20I squad for the Sri Lanka tour, he could not get a spot in the ODI team. 

On the other hand, Abhishek Sharma scored a blistering knock of 100 runs off just 47 balls in the second T20I against Zimbabwe but could not get a place in the T20I squad for the series against Sri Lanka.

Furthermore, the Turbanator also expressed his surprise at Yuzvendra Chahal not being included in the squad. Chahal was part of India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad but didn’t get a match throughout the tournament.

“Hard to understand why Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma are not a part of the Indian team for Sri Lanka,” Harbhajan Singh tweeted after the squad selection for the Sri Lanka series.

The first T20I between India and Sri Lanka will be played in Pallekele on July 27.

T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj.

ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.