Sanju Samson's Mumbai rendezvous: A brush with cricket legends amidst World Cup setback

On Thursday, Team India will play in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh. Rohit Sharma and his team are in excellent form, having won three consecutive matches. In their most recent game in Ahmedabad, India thoroughly defeated Pakistan. In contrast, Bangladesh had only one win in their previous three games. India’s squad for the ODI World Cup missed many names, like Sanju Samson and Yuzvendra Chahal, which sparked a debate in the cricket world. However, players who are not in the CWC squad are focused on domestic cricket to keep themselves fit for the next selection.

3 things you need to know

• India are unbeaten in the CWC 2023 so far 
• Sanju Samson was not included in the Asia Cup 2023 squad 
• Samson was overlooked for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023

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Sanju Samson poses with his favourite cricketers

The Indian cricket legend MS Dhoni and England's white-ball captain Jos Buttler were recently spotted in Mumbai with Indian wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson. On October 18, Samson uploaded a few pictures to his Instagram account. These pictures showed him with Jos Buttler and MS Dhoni, who are also in Mumbai.

The Indian selectors ultimately decided to choose Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan for the World Cup instead of Samson. Samson has an outstanding track record in the ODI format, where he has played regularly over the previous two years.

With an astounding average of 55.71 and a strike rate of 104 throughout the course of 13 One Day Internationals (ODIs), Sanju Samson amassed 390 runs. He has also scored 3 half-centuries for India so far.

Samson did not get a spot in the starting lineup despite his steady and impressive performances. For both the Asia Cup and the World Cup squads, the selectors overlooked him. Numerous fans criticised this move on social media networks. That wasn't the end of the tale, though.

For the Asian Games, where India won the gold medal earlier this month, the selectors decided to go with a second-string side. To the surprise and dismay of many, Sanju Samson was left out of this team altogether.

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What’s next for Sanju Samson?

Samson is currently in Mumbai as part of his 2023 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy participation. In this competition, he serves as the Kerala cricket team's captain. On Thursday, October 19, at DY Patil Stadium, Kerala will play their next game against Bihar.