Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) official has revealed why Sanju Samson did not feature in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25. He admitted that the wicketkeeper-batsman was keen to play in the tournament but did not attend the camp and hence they decided to give the youngster a chance.
With the Indian squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 yet to be named, Sanju Samson’s name has been doing the rounds on the internet. He is one of the wicket-keeper batsmen who could be in contention to be picked for the eight-nation tournament, which will be played from February 19.
Sanju Samson to miss out on 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy – Reports
However, some reports suggest that Samson will not be preferred as he did not feature in the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy. The wicketkeeper-batsman was reported to have opted out of the tournament due to personal reasons, and it could cost him a place in the Indian squad for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
However, in a drastic turn of events, KCA secretary Vinod S Kumar revealed that Samson was keen to play in the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy and even expressed his desire to play. But he did mention that the right-hander did not attend camp.
Thought to try youngsters instead: KCA official confirms Sanju Samson wanted to play for VHT
According to him, Samsó sent them a two-line mail about his unavailability for the camp. The umpire mentioned that even Sachin Baby was not available and since two senior players were not there, they decided to go with youngsters. Speaking to Onmanorama, he said:
“This is to inform you that I will not be available to field. And Sachin (Baby) was also not available due to injury. We were missing two senior players. So we thought of trying the youngsters instead.”
The KCA official mentioned that Sanju Samson contacted the association ahead of Kerala’s Vijaya Hazare Trophy opener against Baroda on December 23 to confirm his availability. But he confirmed that by then they had already finalized the squad.
He mentioned that it would have been unfair to drop the youngster and include Sanju Samson in the team. He added:
“But by then, the squad was finished. It would have been unfair to sacrifice a young man at that time.”
Attending Preparatory Camps Not Compulsory Earlier: Sanju Samson Not Satisfied KCA Didn’t Pick Him
The same report said that Samson was unhappy that KCA did not pick him for the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He emphasized that the batting goalkeeper has always attended camps, which were not mandatory before. He said:
“It had been a norm for Sanju to join the Kerala camp when he was not on national duty. Attending preparatory camps had not been mandatory earlier.”
Several media reports have suggested that Sanju Samson will not be picked for the Indian team, but instead, youngster Dhruv Jurel is likely to be picked. Rishabh Pant is all set to be a first-choice wicketkeeper. Samson has so far scored 510 runs at an average of 56.66 in 16 ODIs. He scored a century in his last match, which came against South Africa in Paarl in December 2023.
