Is Sanju Samson playing today's IND vs ZIM 3rd T20I?
Sanju Samson has returned to India's playing XI for the third T20I against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Wednesday, July 10. The five-match series is currently well-poised at 1-1.
Samson was unavailable for the first two games of the series, as he got stuck in Barbados with the T20 World Cup-winning team due to a hurricane. He then returned to India to join the celebrations before flying to Harare to join the contingent.
Once available for selection, Samson was an automatic choice in the playing XI. He replaced young Dhruv Jurel, who played the first two matches of the series. The 23-year-old scored six runs in his maiden T20I outing and didn't get to bat in the previous fixture.
Sanju Samson was part of India's 2024 T20 World Cup squad that won the trophy. However, he had to warm the benches throughout the tournament with the management preferring Rishabh Pant as the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter.
Before that, Samson had a fabulous campaign with the bat in IPL 2024. The Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper amassed 531 runs in 15 innings at an average of 48.27 and a strike rate of 153.46, including five half-centuries.
India make several changes to their playing XI for 3rd T20I vs ZIM
Apart from Samson, the Men in Blue also brought in World Cup-winning squad members Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube slotted into the playing XI, as India look to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
Dube, who was a surprise inclusion in the World Cup squad, played every single game in the mega event. The southpaw scored 133 runs in eight matches at an average of 22.16 and a strike rate of 114.65. Jaiswal, on the other hand, didn't play a single game with the management going with the ace pair of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma at the top of the order for the World Cup.
India's Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, and Khaleel Ahmed.