Harbhajan Singh wants Sourav Ganguly to change selection panel over Samson axe

Tags: India, Harbhajan Singh, Sourav Chandidas Ganguly, BCCI

Published on: Nov 26, 2019

Veteran Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has sought a change in the Indian selection panel, and has tweeted requesting BCCI President Sourav Ganguly to do so. Harbhajan wrote so in reference to Sanju Samson being dropped from the T20I squad for the West Indies series without being given a chance to prove his worth against Bangladesh.

In the wake of Samson being axed, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had tweeted saying, “Very disappointed to see Sanju Samson dropped without a chance. He carried the drinks for three T20Is & has been promptly discarded. Are they testing his batting or his heart?” Tharoor had tweeted.

To this Harbhajan replied, “I guess they are testing his heart #selectionpanelneedtobechanged, need strong people there… hope dada Sourav Ganguly will do the needful.”

The current selection panel is led by MSK Prasad, who featured in only a handful of international matches for India without much success. The other members of the selection panel are Devang Gandhi, Jatin Pranjpe, Sarandeep Singh, Gagan Khoda, all of whom also have very limited international experience.

The above-mentioned five-member panel had announced the team for the West Indies ODIs and T20Is ahead of the historic Day-Night Test between India and Bangladesh at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Samson was included for the T20I series against Bangladesh, but did not play in any of the matches, and was dropped subsequently. Samson played one T20I for India, back in 2015 against Zimbabwe in Harare.

With Rishabh Pant struggling for consistency in the shorter formats, Samson was expected to be tried out. However, the selectors have placed their faith in Pant again for the West Indies series while ignoring Samson.

After losing the first T20I against Bangladesh, India came back to clinch the series 2-1. Further, they also won the Tests 2-0, winning both the matches by margin of an innings.

--Renin Wilben Albert

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