'Golden chance' - Fans react as Sanju Samson starts for India in 4th West Indies T20I

West Indies are up against India in the fourth T20I of the ongoing five-match series in Lauderhill, Florida. West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran won the toss and put India to bat first. Rohit Sharma‘s side made several changes, and batter Sanju Samson, after being sidelined since the England tour, finally got the nod.

In T20Is, Samson last appeared against Ireland in Malahide on June 28, and before that, it was in February against Sri Lanka in Dharamshala. In his last game, he scored  77 runs off 42 balls, opening the innings, in a four-run win over the Irish. He has been sidelined time and again over the last two months, making way for senior players.

Samson had a decent season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 with Rajasthan Royals (RR), scoring 458 runs in 17 matches at a strike rate of 146.79 and an average of 28.63. He was not picked for the squad for the five-match home series against South Africa the following month. And in the Ireland series, he was once again sidelined for the first T20I.

India make three changes in Lauderhill

In the England tour, Samson made the squad only for the first T20I and was later left out of the playing XI. After several games of inexplicable non-selection of the 27-year-old by the team, fans could only sympathise with the right-handed batter. And Lauderhill, known for being a batting paradise, could be a good place for Samson to once again be among runs and prove himself.

Meanwhile, India made three changes with Samson, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi coming in for Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin. India, after winning the first and third T20I, are only a win away from clinching the series. The fifth T20I will also be played at the same venue on Sunday (August 7).

Notably, the match was delayed by 45 minutes due to bad weather. And once again, the same old opening pairing of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav walked out to begin the proceedings for India. Rohit was dismissed for 33 and Suryakumar for 24 within the first six overs.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Sanju Samson’s inclusion in the line-up: