Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan will not be playing in the 3 match T-20 series against West Indies starting from the 6th of December following a knee injury. Sanju Samson who is a wicketkeeper-batsman has been given a spot in the team replacing Dhawan.
Shikhar Dhawan picked up an injury on his left knee while playing a T20 game for Delhi in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on the 21st of November. Dhawan sustained a deep cut on the knee as he dived on the field. Dhawan was taken to a hospital following the injury.
BCCI made an official statement telling ‘Dhawan suffered a deep cut on his left knee during a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy game against Maharashtra in Surat. The BCCI Medical Team assessed him on Tuesday to review the healing of his wound. The BCCI Medical Team has suggested that Dhawan needs some more time for his stitches to come off and his wound to heal completely’.
According to the statement, the All India Senior Selection Committee has put forward Sanju Samson for the 3 match T20 series as Dhawan’s replacement. Today BCCI Tweeted ‘Sanju Samson named as replacement for injured Dhawan for the T20I series against West Indies. Wriddhiman Saha undergoes surgery’.
NEWS : @IamSanjuSamson named as replacement for injured Dhawan for the T20I series against West Indies.
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 27, 2019
Wriddhiman Saha undergoes surgery.
More details here – https://t.co/V5fixR8uoH pic.twitter.com/oBsaxVXWAz
Earlier when India playerd a 3 match T20I series against Bangladesh, Sanju Samson was included in the team, however did not get an opportunity to play. India won the series 2-1.
As Sanju Samson was not named in the India team for the series to be played against West Indies to prove his potential, the Cricket fraternity was not happy.
Sanju Samson was kept as a backup middle order batsman when Virat Kohli was rested during the Bangladesh series, and when Kohli returned, Samson could not do anything but stay in the dressing room during the T20I matches.
The All India Senior Selection Committee, led by M. S. K. Prasad, faced major backlash when Sanju Samos was not added to the Indian squad for West Indies 3 match T20I series until Shikhar Dhawan’s news. Both Harbhajan Singh and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor condemned their decision.
Tharoor Tweeted as Indian Sqaud were announced previous week saying ‘are they testing his heart?’
Very disappointed to see @IamSanjuSamson dropped without a chance. He carried the drinks for three T20Is & has been promptly discarded. Are they testing his batting or his heart? https://t.co/ydXgwOylBi
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 21, 2019
Harbhajan Singh replied to Tharoor’s tweet saying ‘I guess they r testing his heart’ and even urged the BCCI President and Former Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly to do something about it.
I guess they r testing his heart ? #selectionpanelneedtobechanged need strong people there.. hope dada @SGanguly99 will do the needful https://t.co/RJiGVqp7nk
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) November 25, 2019
Current Indian Squad for West Indies 3 match T20I series is: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Mohammed Shami, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Sanju Samson (WK).
