Former India player Aakash Chopra feels India should play Sanju Samson in the final ODI against New Zealand. However, he is not a part of India’s squad for the upcoming ODI series against Bangladesh as well.
Notably, the final match of the three-match ODI series will be played in Christchurch on Wednesday, November 30. The hosts lead the series 1-0 after winning the first match by seven wickets, and the second match was abandoned due to rain.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said that India should play Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik, Deepak Hooda and Samson in the final ODI as well. He shared:
“Give one match to Kuldeep, play Umran Malik for sure. Play Deepak Hooda also but try to play Sanju Samson as well. If you don’t play Sanju Samson, you will be criticized a lot, be ready for that if you don’t play him.”
However, Aakash Chopra opined on the selection conundrum for the team management if they want to play both Samson and Hooda as well. He explained:
“But if you play him (Samson), how will you play Deepak Hooda? If you play him as well, then you won’t be able to play Rishabh Pant. What will you do? You are resting Suryakumar Yadav in the next series, so there is no need to rest him here, in any case this is not a dead rubber, it is all to play for.”
“Shubman Gill is batting very well” – Sanju Samson
However, Sanju Samson was dropped from the Indian XI for the second ODI and Hooda came in his place as well. The decision saw a lot of criticism on social media, considering Samson’s excellent recent performances in 50-over cricket.
Meanwhile, the veteran expects Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan to continue their good work as openers. He added:
“Shubman Gill is batting very well and Shikhar Dhawan plays well in any case, he played well in the first match and the expectation from him will be to do well in the third match also. Rishabh Pant should score runs else there will be a lot of commotion because there is a lot of commotion when he doesn’t score runs. When he scores runs, there is a lot of celebration as well. He covers the journey between commotion and celebration very quickly,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
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