‘Haan bahut jagah hai bench pe’ – Rumors Sanju Samson replacing Shreyas Iyer for ODIs against Australia emerge

Indian batter Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the ongoing fourth Test match between India and Australia after suffering from lower back pain. He also didn’t come to bat for India in the second innings as he was taken for the scans as confirmed by the Indian cricket board.

As Iyer is already out of the Ahmedabad Test, he is doubtful to appear in the upcoming ODI series against Australia as the results of the scans are not satisfactory. Now that The 28-year-old is unlikely to feature in the ODIs, it is rumoured that the wicketkeeper Sanju Samson could replace him in the Indian squad for a three-match series.

“Shreyas Iyer complained of pain in his lower back following the third day’s play. He has gone for scans and the Indian Cricket Board Medical Team is monitoring him,” said the Indian Cricket Board in a statement on Sunday morning.

Samson has been in and out in the Indian team over the years but hasn’t been able to cement his place in the Indian squad. However, the 28-year-old seemed to capitalize the few chances he got in 2022 as he scored 284 runs in nine One-Day innings he played for India last year, with an impressive average of 71 and two half-centuries. He has also shown good form in five T20Is he played in 2022 with 179 runs averaging at 44.8 with a strike rate of 158.4.

Hardik Pandya to lead India in first ODI

After the completion of the Test series, the Men in Blue will now take on Australia for a three-match ODI series starting from March 17. The first match of the series will be hosted by the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. Visakhapatnam and Chennai will host the next two matches of the series respectively.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya will lead the Indian team in the first match, as Rohit Sharma will be unavailable due to family commitments. However, Rohit will be back for the captaincy duties in the next two ODIs. This series will be crucial for both teams as a preparation for the upcoming ODI World Cup that will be hosted by India later this year.

Indian squad for the ODIs:
Rohit Sharma (C), S Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (VC), R Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, W Sundar, Y Chahal, Mohd Shami, Mohd Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Jaydev Unadkat.

(2) Kiran Kottayam on Twitter: “#SanjuSamson #Sanjusamson Waiting♥♥♥♥ https://t.co/kjMXR75yNv” / Twitter

(2) Akshat on Twitter: “@CricCrazyJohns @abhishereporter No way this guy shouldn’t come in team setup for WC” / Twitter

(2) コン・ドゥ・グエン on Twitter: “@CricCrazyJohns @abhishereporter Deserve it too, maybe there for Iyer and Rahul up to 4.” / Twitter

(2) コン・ドゥ・グエン on Twitter: “@CricCrazyJohns @abhishereporter Deserve it too, maybe there for Iyer and Rahul up to 4.” / Twitter

(2) Elijah Impey 🍋🌶️ on Twitter: “@CricCrazyJohns @abhishereporter Patidar was backup middle order, dropped without Playing 😂😂🤣😂” / Twitter

(2) nikhil patel on Twitter: “@CricCrazyJohns @abhishereporter At 4 Surya in place of iyer At 5 they will go with Rahul (secured the place in this format) Warming Bench purpose” / Twitter

(2) Adith Shyam on Twitter: “@CricCrazyJohns @abhishereporter He deserves to be in👏 Best keeper available at pant’s absence.. Hopefully he replace Ks Bharat for wtc final!” / Twitter

(2) Mosthated on Twitter: “@CricCrazyJohns @abhishereporter Music will start from sanju fans then if sky plays instead of sanju !!!” / Twitter

(2) Bhrat Charan💧 on Twitter: “@CricCrazyJohns @abhishereporter Chance of @IamSanjuSamson https://t.co/tq8yfiWa68” / Twitter

(2) Raktim Ranjan Goswami on Twitter: “@CricCrazyJohns @abhishereporter Khelne toh dega nhi 😂 Bench me Chahiye” / Twitter