Twitter furious after Sanju Samson is once again sidelined from India's playing XI

The much-awaited three-match Twenty20 International series between hosts India and defending champions West Indies finally kicked off at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. As always, going into any India series- especially in white-ball cricket- the debate is around their team selection.

Who will play? Who will miss out? Are the two frequent questions. And, when it comes to the current scenario, the biggest talking point is around the conundrum around picking the misfiring Rishabh Pant or to give the opportunity to Kerala swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson.

Pant has come under the scanner courtesy his extended lean phase with both the bat as well as with the gloves and calls have grown louder in the past month or so for the selection of Sanju Samson in place of the southpaw. And, so when Virat Kohli announced at the toss that Pant will take precedence over Samson in the first T20I, social media went ablaze.

Not the first time that social media has outraged with Sanju Samson not playing

This is not the first time that social media has outraged over Sanju Samson’s exclusion. The tearaway right-hander was drafted into the T20I squad for the series against Bangladesh after having smashed a plethora of records during his whirlwind double-century in one of Vijay Hazare 50-over Trophy fixtures back in October. However, Samson warmed the bench in all the three games as he watched Rishabh Pant struggle both in front and behind the wickets.

Fans were expecting that he would now be given a fair run in the next series against the West Indies. However, to their utter shock and dismay, Sanju Samson wasn’t even selected in the 15-man squad to take on the defending world champions. And, it was only due to an unfortunate injury to Shikhar Dhawan that the wicketkeeper-batsman was drafted in the set-up.

Coming back to the game, India once again went with a safety-first-attack-second approach as they continued to sideline Kuldeep Yadav in favour of off-spinning all-rounders in Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Sanju Samson’s snub