Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has added that Sanju Samson has done well in the limited opportunities he has been given in ODI cricket so far. He also stated that Samson’s non-selection in Kerala’s Vijay Hazare Trophy side after he opted out of a camp and that could be a cause for him not being picked in India’s 2025 Champions Trophy squad as well. However, the selectors recently picked a 15-member squad for the upcoming edition of the Champions Trophy taking place in Pakistan and Dubai from February 19 onwards as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra’, he said, “Sanju Samson is always a topic of debate. He has played 16 matches (ODIs) and has an average of 56 in 14 innings, which is very, very nice. He has scored a century and three half-centuries in those 14 innings. He also played against good teams. He scored a century against South Africa, which was on December 21, 2023. These are good numbers but the last match was in December 2023 against South Africa in Paarl. He didn’t play in the Hazare Trophy this year. There was a lot of discussion that he should have gone for the camp. Not playing the Vijay Hazare has obviously gone against him.”

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In the same video, Aakash Chopra also opined on Sanju Samson’s recent domestic numbers, including first-class cricket as well.

“How was his Vijay Hazare performance in 2023-24? He scored 293 runs in seven innings, which is not bad actually. However, he didn’t play in 2022-23. He played only one Ranji Trophy match in 2024 and scored 15 runs,” he said. “When he played Ranji Trophy in 2023-24, his name was 10th in the run-scoring charts for Kerala. He played four matches, six innings, and scored 177 runs at an average of 35. He was at the fourth spot in the 2022-23 season, where he scored 284 runs in five innings with three half-centuries,” Aakash Chopra concluded.