"Speaks of selection inconsistencies" - Twiteratti react as India pick Sanju Samson ahead of Ishan Kishan in 1st ODI vs WI

Team India have picked Sanju Samson over Ishan Kishan for the first ODI against West Indies on July 22 at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain.

This is Samson's first ODI game since his debut last year. The Kerala-born cricketer made his debut against Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. He scored a run-a-ball 46 in that game, however, the Men in Blue ended up on the losing side.

Meanwhile, there were mixed reactions from fans on social media on the wicketkeeper-batter's inclusion in the side. While some were happy with Samson's inclusion, many slammed Rahul Dravid-led management for not selecting Kishan.

Sanju Samson was also part of the first ODI against England but didn't get to play the game.

Ishan Kishan, on the other hand, has scored 88 runs in the three ODIs he has played so far at a strike rate of 107.31. He has been the go-to player in the shortest format of the game.

India get off to a flying start against West Indies

Shikhar Dhawan, who is leading the side in the absence of regular captain Rohit Sharma, got the tourists off to a flying start alongside Shubman Gill.

The duo were happy to play their shots as West Indies' new ball bowlers lacked penetration. The hosts struggled to hit the right areas as Gill and Shubman found boundaries with ease.

At the time of writing, the visiting side were well placed at 88/0 at the end of the 12th over. Gill has reached his half-century with Dhawan batting on 33.

The two batters will hope to stitch together a big partnership and build a platform for the hitters to capitalize in the death overs.

India's Playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (w), Deepak Hooda, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna

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Ankush is a cricket journalist at Sportskeeda covering news, listicles, features, and exclusives. A graduate in Commerce and an accountant by qualification, Ankush followed his true calling for sports journalism, and today, has over 8 years of experience having working for the likes of Sportzwiki and Cricfit. Ankush places a very high emphasis on factual accuracy in his articles and believes in representing the true image of the story. Writing in the simplest and most easy-to-understand language possible, especially for those not well-versed with English, is one of his strengths.

Ankush, who captained his state in the National School games, is a big fan of Ravichandran Ashwin. He admires his unconventional thinking and his eagerness to keep learning despite being a legend of the game. His favorite cricket team is Australia because of their mentality and fighting spirit, and them beating India in the 2003 World Cup final left a lasting impression on him.

Apart from watching and covering cricket, Ankush also likes to read books whenever possible.

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