India batter Sanju Samson has replaced KL Rahul in the T20 squad for the five-match T20I series against West Indies, the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) senior selection committee announced on Friday.
Samson, 27, was part of the ODI squad which recently white-washed the hosts 3-0. The ODIs, Sanju managed to score a fifty against West Indies in the second ODI match however, he wasn’t included in India’s T20I squad which saw the comeback of star India players like KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant>
However, Rahul was forced to miss the T20Is after he contracted Covid-19 while recovering from sports hernia surgery which took place in Germany last month.
Issuing a statement, the BCCI said: “The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson as a replacement for KL Rahul in the T20I squad for the ongoing West Indies series. KL Rahul was earlier named in the squad and his participation in the T20I series was subject to fitness.”
“The batter tested positive for COVID-19 last week and has been advised rest by the BCCI medical team,” it added.
India’s squad for 5 T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.