Asia Cup 2022 | India should have picked Sanju Samson ahead of ‘recently returning’ KL Rahul, opines Danish Kaneria

🃏The upcoming edition of the Asia Cup gets underway on August 27, with Sri Lanka taking on Afghanistan in Dubai. Then a day after, India will lock horns with Pakistan at the same venue. It will be the first time between the two sides since Pakistan handed a hammering 10-wicket defeat to India at the last T20 World Cup in the UAE.

🐲Ahead of the mega event, there has been plenty of chatters about how India will form in the tournament to get an idea about their lineup in the next T20 World Cup, set to be played in Australia later this year. One of the notable addition that India made for the 2022 Asia Cup was recalling KL Rahul in the mix. Rahul was injured after IPL 2022 but made his return in the recently-concluded Zimbabwe ODIs, where he was named India’s captain at the 11th hour. However, he failed to live up to the expectations, departing cheaply on both attempts.

🌳Speaking with cricketnext.com, former Pakistani spinner Danish Kaneria came up with an opinion on selecting Rahul for the Asia Cup. Kaneria remarked India should have given rest to Rahul so that he can get his best version at the next T20 World Cup, and to fill his place, the BCCI should have opted for Sanju Samson.

"Sanju Samson should have got the opportunity to play in the Asia Cup and KL Rahul should have been given some time so that he could focus on the T20 World Cup to be played in Australia," Kaneria said at CricketNext.com.

♑"KL Rahul was coming from a big injury and then he went to Zimbabwe, and now he is going into the Asia Cup squad so early. India have a Sanju Samson type of player who’s been doing so well. He is a fantastic cricketer and he’s been playing beautifully."

༺To justify his opinion, Kaneria further added that Samson usually does not get regular chances at the international level and the upcoming Asia Cup could have been a good place for him to showcase his talents.

൲"Samson didn’t get consistent opportunities to play for Team India. He was in and out of the squad, and now he is getting opportunities because Rahul Dravid knows him so well, and he knows what a talent he is. In such a case, Sanju Samson should have got the opportunity to play in the Asia Cup," Kaneria explained.