Does Rohit Sharma Not Like Sanju Samson?: Sanju Samson might just be one of the most unlucky cricketers in India. The Kerela-based wicketkeeper-batter has been in and around the national side for a few years now, but his appearances in the Indian team jersey have been few and far between.
He has a solid record in ODIs with the bat and is one of the best and most athletic wicketkeepers in India. Despite that, he has played only 25 T20Is and 16 ODIs in his international career.
Many understand that the competition for spots in the Indian national cricket team is fierce and some players are bound to get fewer matches. Some fans believe and speculate that Sanju Samson has been deliberately kept back and is not liked by people above him, especially Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma.
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A disclaimer for this piece. This blog is written to acknowledge the existence of rumors and speculation about why Sanju Samson has not been a regular on the side for the past few years. The facts and statistics in this piece will be clearly stated as so and these beliefs are not held by anyone associated with this blog.
While it has nothing to do with his place in the side, but Sanju Samson has one of the largest fan followings for a player not a regular in the squad. That might have something to do with people acknowledging how he has not been given many chances, or it might be because he is the captain of the IPL side with one of the smallest but arguably the most loyal fanbase, Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Does Rohit Sharma Not Like Sanju Samson?
While there can be no official word about this being anything but speculation, the numbers do suggest that Rohit Sharma might not be the biggest Sanju Samson fan. While his T20I numbers might not be the best, Sanju has been superb for India in ODIs. In the 14 innings he has played in the format, he has scored 510 runs with an average of 56.66. He even scored his maiden ODI century against South Africa.
Despite the century, he was not picked in the first two T20Is against Afghanistan. Instead, that spot was given to a newbie in the Indian jersey, Jitesh Sharma, who does not have the best statistics himself.
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While it just might be his age, with him turning 29 recently, that makes the upper brass believe that he is not a horse for a long race, Sanju is still one of the most athletic presences on the field.
Now comes the stat that makes Samson’s fans believe that it is specifically Rohit Sharma who is behind his limited games in the Indian jersey. Out of the 31 games he has played for India, how many do you think he played under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy? Just 5, with 3 of them coming in an inconsequential T20I series against Sri Lanka And that is not to say that he has not been available for selection for all the times Sharma has captained the national team. Sanju has mostly been in the squad but has not been picked by the Hitman.
Sanju Samson most of his ODIs in 2022, in the year of the T20 World Cup. Back then, many believed that he was being groomed for the 2023 ODI World Cup. But as soon as the T20 World Cup ended, Sanju was shifted back to the T20I squad and given very limited ODI time. Now that the ODI World Cup has ended, he again played all ODIs against South Africa.
Despite that, Sanju Samson only has positive things to say about his interactions with Rohit Sharma, with him in an interview in 2023 claiming he and Rohit had a long discussion following IPL 2023.
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