Sanju Samson’s absence from India’s ODI squad for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka has surprised many, including several former cricketers.

The wicket-keeper batsman was expected to make it into the ODI squad after performing well in the limited number of opportunities he had gotten in the past. In India’s last ODI, which was against South Africa in December, the Kerala star had scored a brilliant match-winning century.

While Sanju Samson would have hoped that his fortunes would eventually change after the century in tough conditions against the Proteas, the selectors and team management had other plans. They decided to drop him from the squad for the upcoming series, much to the surprise of everyone, including some former cricketers like S Badrinath, Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Dodda Ganesh.

Sanju Samson is not the preferred backup goalkeeper:

KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant have been chosen as the two wicketkeepers in the ODI squad. The selectors’ decision has made it quite clear that Sanju Samson is still not the preferred choice as a wicketkeeper. And things could go from bad to worse for him in the coming days.

According to a report by ESPNcricinfo, the selectors also do not prefer Sanju Samson as a backup wicketkeeper. The report stated that the selectors want to groom Dhruv Jurel, Samson’s teammate at Rajasthan Royals. The Uttar Pradesh star is reportedly seen as the primary backup wicketkeeper across all formats.

“While the selectors have named Pant and Rahul as the wicket-keepers for the ODI leg of the Sri Lanka tour, it is understood that Dhruv Jurel, who made his India debut during the Test series in England earlier this year, will be seen as the main back-up wicket-keeper across all formats.

“Rahul’s return is also the reason why Sanju Samson could not find a place in the 50-overs squad for the Sri Lanka series, despite scoring a century in his most recent ODI,” the report stated.

Jurel made his Test debut earlier this year during the home series against England and made a flying start to international cricket. He showed remarkable composure and maturity in doing well with the bat in pressure situations. Earlier this year, Jurel also made his T20I debut during the tour of Zimbabwe, though he failed to retain his place for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka.