The Indian cricketer Sanju Samson’s cricketing career has been full of ups and downs and now he has been pulled out of India ‘A’ tour of England. He has failed the Yo-Yo test and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decreed that Samson cannot travel.
India ‘A’ squad will be led by Shreyas Iyer and the team has had left for London from Delhi on Sunday but Samson was left behind in India. There was no immediate information on his score in the Yo-Yo test – the new benchmark for fitness for Indian cricketers – but the reports of the Mirror suggest that he has fallen way short of the prescribed 16.1 mark. The selectors have also named young wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan as Sanju Samson’s replacement in India A squad for the One-Day series in England with the Kerala player also failing to clear the Yo-Yo test.
Sanju has been highly regarded by Indian pundits, particularly by Rahul Dravid, the current coach of the ‘A’ team. Dravid had also provided immense exposure to Samson at Delhi Daredevils (DD) when he was the coach of the team but Samson has failed his mentor too.
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Times of India’s sources in the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore have revealed that Samson appeared for the fitness test three days ago along with other players of the ‘A’ team. Some of the unconfirmed reports say he had a few niggles because of which he could not train well, resulting in the low score in the Yo-Yo test.
However, MSK Prasad, the chairman of the selection committee, could not be contacted. Samson too could not be reached as well as Dravid, who evidently was on the flight. Rishabh Pant is the designated keeper in the squad.
Samson was included in the ‘A’ side which will take part in a triangular series involving hosts England along with the third team being West Indies ‘A’. The One-Day tri-series is followed by three ‘A’ Tests in July for which Samson was not picked. That side is led by Karun Nair and the designated wicketkeeper in that squad is KS Bharat.
