Sanju Samson overlooked again for ODIs; he last played one in 2023

Sanju Samson must wait for his return to the ODI set-up as he is not part of India’s home series against Afghanistan next month.

India and Afghanistan will play a one-off Test in New Chandigarh, starting June 6, followed by three ODIs (Dharamsala, June 14; Lucknow, June 17; Chennai, June 20).

Sanju’s last ODI appearance was in December 2023 during a tour of South Africa. In his last ODI, Sanju scored a century (108) and was the player of the match as India defeated South Africa by 78 runs at Paarl.

Though Sanju has more or less nailed his spot in India's T20I set up after a fabulous show in the recent World Cup, he remains out of reckoning in the ODIs. Sanju has an average of 56.6 in ODIs, with a century and three fifties from 14 innings.

Sanju continued his fine form from the World Cup into the ongoing IPL. He has scored two centuries and remains in the race for the Orange Cap with 477 runs from 13 innings.

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are part of the Shubman Gill-led unit that features Shreyas Iyer as vice-captain. Hardik Pandya has also been included, subject to clearing a fitness test.

ODI squad: Shubman Gill (capt), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vc), KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Harsh Dubey