Shikhar Dhawan-led Team India had a poor ODI series against New Zealand. Moreover, they had underwhelming first innings in the third and final ODI match as they posted 219 runs on the board. And the match was ultimately called off due to constant rain which led the hosts to clinch the ODI series. While Sanju Samson was once again dropped, the decision didn’t go down well with the politician Shashi Tharoor.
Meanwhile, the batting unit, apart from Shreyas Iyer and Washington Sundar, failed to contribute in the must-win encounter. Rishabh Pant, who scored 10 runs from 16 balls, came under the scanner and faced a lot of criticism and Tharoor slammed at the player, saying that he requires a break from the white-ball format.
One more failure for Pant, who clearly needs a break from white-ball cricket. One more opportunity denied to @IamSanjuSamson who now has to wait for the @IPL to show that he’s one of the best too-order bats in India. #IndvsNZ https://t.co/RpJKkDdp5n
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 30, 2022
“One more failure for Pant, who clearly needs a break from white-ball cricket. One more opportunity denied to @IamSanjuSamson who now has to wait for the @IPL to show that he’s one of the best top-order bats in India,” tweeted Shashi Tharoor.
The MP of Thiruvananthapuram clearly didn’t like dropping Sanju Samson from the side for the match and shared stats in a separate post, which was tweeted by him earlier in the day as well.
"Pant has done well at No. 4, so it is important to back him," says @VVSLaxman281. He's a good player out of form who's failed in ten of his last 11 innings; Samson averages 66 in ODIs, has made runs in all his last five matches & is on the bench. Go figure. @IamSanjuSamson
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 30, 2022
“‘Pant has done well at No. 4, so it is important to back him,’ says @VVSLaxman281. He’s a good player out of form who’s failed in ten of his last 11 innings; Samson averages 66 in ODIs, has made runs in all his last five matches & is on the bench. Go figure,” read another one of Tharoor’s tweets.
However, Sanju Samson added a vital partnership of 94 runs with Shreyas Iyer in the first ODI when the wickets kept losing. He scored 36 off 38 deliveries before getting dropped in the subsequent two matches as well.
As far as the match is concerned, India posted a total of 219 runs on the scoreboard. However, the Kiwi batters started the second innings on a solid note but the match couldn’t take place further due to rain and the hosts won the ODI series as well.
Get the latest cricket news here, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more such updates.
