Former India selector and batter Kris Srikkanth has chastised the incumbent chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, for excluding Sanju Samson from the ODI squad for the upcoming tour of Australia. Srikkanth believes that picking Dhruv Jurel, who doesn’t have an ODI cap yet, instead of the Kerala star, is another example of the selectors changing their ways for different individuals and ‘confusing the players’.
Samson hasn’t played ODI cricket since 2023. He was performing well in the format at the time, averaging well over 50, but the Rahul Dravid-Rohit Sharma regime chose Suryakumar Yadav for the lower-order batter’s role, which backfired in the 2023 World Cup. India found a solution a few months later by pushing KL Rahul further down the order and surrounding
him with all-rounders, which helped them win the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Rishabh Pant was the backup ‘keeper in that tournament, who is now injured. Jurel, who is the first-choice replacement for Pant in Tests, will do the same for the first time in ODIs.
“Again, very unfair,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel. “Sanju should have been there, considering he scored a century in his last ODI. So, every day, the reason for change keeps shifting for each individual. One day you make him bat at 5, then another day you make him open. Sometimes you send him at 7 or 8. How did Dhruv Jurel suddenly come in? Sanju may or may not feature in the 11, but he has to be given the first right of refusal.”
“By making such selections constantly, they are confusing the players themselves. Even though we aren’t sure every day what the selection will be. Suddenly, Yashasvi Jaiswal is there, and then the next minute, he won’t be there. By chopping and changing all the time, they’ll dent the confidence of the players,” he added.
Jurel has scored 189 runs in seven List-A innings at an average of 47.25. His white-ball record otherwise hasn’t been eye-catching either, suggesting that the selectors believe that he can translate his red-ball success in ODIs, at least as a backup option behind a solid starter.
