Mumbai, January 18: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday announced 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and ODIs against England. BCCI is being criticised for not selecting Mohammed Siraj, Sanju Samson, Karun Nair and others from the Indian squad.
Indian cricketer Sanju Samson, a talented batsman from Kerala, has been excluded from India's Champions Trophy squad, sparking widespread debate and criticism. Congress leader and Kerala MP Shashi Tharoor has come out in strong support of Samson, questioning the decisions made by the cricket administrators that have impacted the player’s career.
Shashi Tharoor took to his official social media account and said that the controversy began with a disagreement between Samson and the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA). Sanju had informed the KCA in advance that he would be unable to attend a training camp held between the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMA) and the Vijay Hazare Trophy tournaments. Despite this, the KCA allegedly took offense and dropped him from Kerala's training plans, leading to tensions that seem to have spilled over into his exclusion from the Indian team.
Tharoor highlighted Samson’s impressive record, noting that he has a highest score of 212* in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and averages a remarkable 56.66 in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for India. In his last ODI outing against South Africa, Samson scored a century, further proving his potential at the international level.
Shashi Tharoor tweeted, "The sorry saga of the Kerala Cricket Association and Sanju Samson -- the player wrote to KCA, in advance, regretting his inability to attend a training camp between the SMA and the Vijay Hazare Trophy tournaments, and was promptly dropped from the squad -- has now resulted in Sanju's exclusion from the Indian team. A batsman who has a highest score of 212* in the Hazare, who averages 56.66 in ODIs for India (including a century in his last outing, against South Africa) is having his career destroyed by the egos of cricket administrators. Doesn't it bother the KCA bosses that by leaving Sanju out, they ensured Kerala didn't even reach the quarter-finals of the Hazare? Where does this leave him?"
Reacting to the decision of the BCCI, internet users are claiming that ego clashes and poor decision-making by cricket administrators are derailing the career of a player with immense talent. Tharoor also pointed out that Kerala's performance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy was impacted, with the team failing to reach the quarter-finals, perhaps due to the absence of their star player.
This exclusion has left fans and experts questioning the priorities of BCCI. Tharoor's strong words underline the growing frustration with how promising players like Samson are treated. Where this leaves Samson, a player capable of making significant contributions for Team India, remains uncertain.
