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India arrived in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) on Monday, September 26, amidst huge fanfare as the Men in Blue prepare for their final assignment ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November. The team bus was charged at by the cricket-crazy fans of Kerala as they chanted the name of one of the local favourites who many believe is unlucky to not be playing a more active role in the national team — Sanju Samson.
Samson is not a regular for the India team. But this does not stop the 27-year-old from being one of the favourites among fans. Sanju last played in the series against Zimbabwe, and prior to that, faced off against Ireland and then West Indies. More recently, Sanju is in the squad that is facing the New Zealand A team currently.
The Indian team were greeted with chants of 'Sanju Sanju as they arrived in the city which was also Samson's hometown. While Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal shared pictures of the huge crowd around the team bus chanting Samson's name, batter Suryakumar Yadav won millions of hearts with his special tribute.
From the bus, the in-form batter flashed a picture of Samson towards the fans which brought on loud cheers for the poster boy of Kerala and left the fans overjoyed.
There was massive disappointment when Samson was not named in the squads for the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup despite his good returns in the games he has played. The Kerala lad, unfortunately, was never in the plans with the first-choice team. Samson got a chance in West Indies only when KL Rahul couldn't be fit in time for the T20Is.
Samson, who hasn't played for India since the Zimbabwe series is likely to make a comeback to the national side in the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa after captaining the India A team in three unofficial ODI against New Zealand A. The wicketkeeper-batter would want to push for his case for a permanent place in the side as he has done well in the chances he has got this year.
