“The sword always falls only on him” – Danish Kaneria on Sanju Samson's exclusion from 2nd ODI vs NZ

Former Pakistani cricketer Danish Kaneria has insinuated that there is favoritism within the squad after the Indian team management left out Sanju Samson from the playing XI against New Zealand in the rain-marred second ODI in Hamilton on Sunday (November 27).

Kaneria criticized the idea of giving Rishabh Pant too many opportunities despite his repeated failures in the white-ball format. He also defended Samson (36), who was dropped despite outscoring Pant (15) in the first ODI.

Speaking on his YouTube channel on Tuesday, he said:

“9:30 – If I talk about ‘zyadti’ (excessiveness), Sanju Samson is the talk of the town. I don’t know what’s the reason behind it, whether it’s politics or if there’s liking or disliking that he gets dropped more often than not and Pant gets more and more opportunities. He was dropped even after scoring 36 runs. The sword always falls only on him.”

For the uninitiated, stand-in captain Shikhar Dhawan said they dropped Samson for team balance as they required all-rounder Deepak Hooda to be their sixth bowling option. Kaneria, however, felt that Hooda should have replaced Pant and not Samson in the playing XI.

---

“He is a player of a different class” – Danish Kaneria on Sanju Samson

Kaneria believes Sanju Samson would have performed better if India had backed him ahead of Rishabh Pant in the limited-overs format because he possesses a different class.

On this, he said:

“10:15 – The number of games that Pant got on a trot, if they had given the number of chances to Sanju, he must have performed far better for Team India because he is a player of a different class.”

Interestingly, Samson and Pant have played an equal number of ODIs this year.

Here's a look at Pant and Samson's ODI numbers:

Sanju Samson – 284 runs in nine inns @71 in 2022

Overall – 330 runs in 11 matches @66

Rishabh Pant – 326 runs in nine inns @40.75 in 2022

Overall – 855 runs in 29 matches @35.62

---

Impactful performances - Pant vs Samson

ODIs

Pant scored an unbeaten 125 off 113 deliveries and single-handedly won the ODI decider for India in England earlier this year.

On the other hand, Samson’s best innings of an unbeaten 83 off 63 balls came against South Africa, where he failed to take the team past the finish line.

T20Is

Meanwhile, the stats differ in T20Is, where Pant has played 25 games, compared to Samson's 16.

Pant in 2022 T20Is – 364 runs in 21 innings @21.41

Overall – 296 runs in 16 matches @21.14

Samson in 2022 T20Is – 179 runs in six innings @44.75

Overall – 987 runs in 66 matches @22.43

Meanwhile, the Men in Blue will be seen in action during the third ODI against New Zealand in Christchurch on Wednesday (November 30).