Wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson was announced as a replacement for KL Rahul in India’s squad for the five-match Twenty20 International series against West Indies on Friday. In a press release by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, it was confirmed that KL Rahul tested positive for Covid-19 last week and had been advised rest by the BCCI medical team.
The opener, who recently underwent surgery for a sports hernia and was out of action since the Indian Premier League in May, was earlier named in the squad but it was stated that his participation in the T20I series was subject to fitness.
Meanwhile, Sanju Samson was part of the squad in the recently concluded One Day International series that the India clean swept 3-0. He also featured in the Playing XI during India’s tour to Ireland last month where he scored his first T20I half-century in the second T20I. The 27-year-old would be hoping to build on that and make a case for himself to be included in the team that heads to Australia for the T20 World Cup in October.
India’s squad for 5 T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
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