All-rounder Hardik Pandya will captain India in the upcoming bilateral T20I series in New Zealand while Shikhar Dhawan will lead the ODI squad, with regular skipper Rohit Sharma being rested for the tour, which begins five days after the T20 World Cup final in Australia. Apart from Rohit, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul have also been rested from the entire tour of New Zealand. Rishabh Pant, who has already led India before, has been appointed as the vice-captain for both legs of the tour.
Also Read: India’s squad for New Zealand and Bangladesh tours announced
Sanju Samson fans were not happy with the fact that the wicket-keeper batsman has been selected in the New Zealand tour but will not be part of the Bangladesh tour. Here’s how the fans reacted to the team selection –
Sanju Samson? #sanjusamson pic.twitter.com/fsvfyQMTBS— Sandeep Raj (@thecaadesigner) October 31, 2022
Hav’ an avg of 60 in ODI and still out of squad for an Asian series. The world cup hapening in subcontinent nxt & dropping Samson from squad vs Bangladesh is a clear view tht he is not in contention for nxt yr’s ODI WC up to BCCI plans. In justice again for Sanju_#SanjuSamson— iNaveenVijayakumar (@iNaveen2542k) October 31, 2022
After T20WorldCup2022 #SanjuSamson will be included in all bilateral T20 series, but will not find a place in ODI. So the Message is clear from @BCCI that #Sanju Samson will not be in 2023 ODI World Cup. https://t.co/PoPs87pfCB— Imperial Mail__ (@12322v) October 31, 2022
#SanjuSamson , https://t.co/yrGmJ8e4SI— Rohit (@___Invisible_1) October 31, 2022
Do you think that #sanjusamson deserves a place in the #Bangladesh series ? — CricketFace (@ipl62013) October 31, 2022
Who is better batsmen between these two ?
Like __ – Sanju samson
Retweet _- Rishabh Pant #SanjuSamson#INDvBAN#INDvsBAN#T20WorldCup2022 #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/n7eV27M0kg— #INDvsBAN (Sports Gossip) (@SportsN53918194) October 31, 2022
next year world cup is in subcontinent not outside Asia dropping sanju samson in odi’s vs ban is a clear view that he is not in contention for next year world cup#SanjuSamson.fuck off bcci — CRICKET KING (@CRICKET35269570) October 31, 2022
Dhawan should retire now and give his place to someone who is and deserving like Prithivi Shaw. Sarfaraz Khan deserves a place in Test Squad. Where is Ravi Bishnoi? #TeamIndia #BCCI #SanjuSamson— Imran Khan (@ikhan_ind) October 31, 2022
India to announce their squad for the New Zealand tour today evening
Will #SanjuSamson be part of the squad? pic.twitter.com/oukNqHw8Hj— Sanju Meena official__ (@SanjuMe51801547) October 31, 2022
They have not selected sanju samson against bangladesh even after having an average of 60 plus in Odi’s. What else he needs to do? Rishab getting more and more chances……. ____#SanjuSamson @BCCI— jit (@EJitheesh) October 31, 2022
Why you guys do this all the time to #SanjuSamson , https://t.co/rMqWIcBty6— Jesvin George (@JesvinGeorgeK) October 31, 2022
What the hell where is #SanjuSamson https://t.co/7v3XqsHkve— Jeona Philip (@Jeona92164668) October 31, 2022
How can you drop #SanjuSamson from an #ODI team even after such an excellent performance against #SA , , where you have included Patidar ! When will you stop this mental torchering against Sanju ?!!! — SAHEED PUTHAN PURAYIL (@saheedpp) October 31, 2022
Congratulations champion#SanjuSamson#AUSvsIRE #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/NCGS312Gk7— Afroz Pasha Adv.__ (@AfrozITM) October 31, 2022
#SanjuSamson BLASTER edit. @IamSanjuSamson#INDvsSA #SouthAfrica #TeamIndia
A player to remember in #T20WorldCup2022 pic.twitter.com/f3cdeg0TrJ— AdithyaDeep_ (@IAdithyadeep) October 31, 2022
#SanjuSamson #sanju #samson
Sanju is just all rounder he is proper batter, wicket keeper batter, floater,modern day best finisher but bcci ignoring him doing discrimination against him people should raise their voice for samson he is not in odi series against Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/Au8nhA1PrK— Karan Bakshi (@Karan_Bakshi_27) October 31, 2022
The likes of Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda and Sanju Samson will have a chance to impress once again in the absence of the senior Indian players. Meanwhile, pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who was ruled out of the T20 World Cup with a back injury, continues to miss out. On the other hand, speedster Umran Malik has been included in both the squads.
Dinesh Karthik also misses out from the T20I squad and when queried about it, chairman of selectors Chetan Sharma during a virtual press conference, pointed towards workload management as the reason for his exclusion. Mohammed Shami, R Ashwin and Axar Patel are the other players in the T20 World Cup squad, who aren’t part of the squad for the T20Is against New Zealand.
Notably, Hardik had also led India earlier this year, during the two T20Is in Ireland, when Rohit was unavailable for the two T20Is in Ireland. Shikhar has also captained ODI sides at many occasions in recent times. India will play three T20Is and three ODIs in New Zealand from November 18. The T20Is will be played in Wellington (November 18), Mount Maunganui (November 20) and Napier (November 22), while the ODIs are in Auckland (November 25) , Hamilton (November 27) and Christchurch (November 30). India last toured New Zealand in 2020, when they won the T20I series 5-0, lost the ODIs 3-0, and suffered a 2-0 defeat in the Test series.
India Squad for New Zealand T20I Squad: Hardik Pandya (C), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), W Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel , Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik.
India Squad for New Zealand ODI Squad: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), W Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh , Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik.
India Squad for Bangladesh ODIs: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, W Sundar, Shardul Thakur , Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Yash Dayal
India Squad for Bangladesh Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur , Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav.