Sanju Samson snubbed again; India bat first against South Africa

CUTTACK: India will bat first in the first T20I against South Africa. South African captain Aiden Markram won the toss and chose to field. In a surprise move, in-form Malayali wicketkeeper Sanju Samson has been left out, with Jitesh Sharma included in India’s playing XI. Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar and Harshit Rana are also not part of the final XI.

The decision to drop Sanju Samson for Jitesh, who could not shine even in the Emerging Asia Cup, has led to widespread criticism, especially on social media. Earlier too, Sanju was removed from the opener’s role to make space for Shubman Gill.

India playing XI:

Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh.

South Africa playing XI:

Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Lutho Sipamla, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje.