Young Indian wicketkeeper-batsman, Sanju Samson has replaced KL Rahul in India’s T20 squad for the series against West Indies. The five-match series between India and West Indies is all set to begin on July 29 with the first game of the series being played at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad.
KL Rahul has had a few turbulent months dealing with injury blows. He last played in IPL 2022 in the Eliminator against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and since then, he has been away from the Indian squad. Last month, he had a successful Hernia surgery for which he travelled to Germany and after completing his rehab at the NCA, he was struck with COVID.
Sanju Samson Replaces KL Rahul In India’s T20 Squad vs West Indies
Although, there has been no official announcement of Sanju Samson being inducted into the India squad for the West Indies T20Is, the BCCI’s squad page for the 1st T20I on their official website mentions Sanju Samson’s name in the squad that will take on West Indies in the five-match series. The official announcement could come at the time of the toss by captain Rohit Sharma.
Team India has already won the 3-match ODI series against the West Indies which was played prior to the T20I series. Shikhar Dhawan led the ODI squad which completed a 3-0 whitewash of the Caribbean squad. Senior Indian players including Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and Jasprit Bumrah were rested for the ODI series.
While Virat Kohli has been rested for the T20I series too, Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant have made their comeback to the Indian T20 squad for the series against West Indies. Ravichandran Ashwin is also included in India’s T20 squad vs West Indies as he will playing his first T20I for team India since the 2021 T20 World Cup debacle.
Jasprit Bumrah has also been rested for the series and we might witness more induction of Arhsdeep Singh in the first XI as he impressed everyone with his bowling on his T20I debut for India vs England. The pace battery will once again be led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Yuzvendra Chahal has been provided rest for the series and Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi are a part of the Indian squad.
