India’s Sanju Samson called up as Ambati Rayudu is ruled out of tour

Sport360 staff 07:45 14/07/2015
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  • Injury concern: Ambati Rayudu.

    India suffered a big blow ahead of their third and final one-dayer against Zimbabwe when their top run-getter of the series Ambati Rayudu was ruled out of the tour with a leg injury.

    Rayudu, 29, hurt himself during the second one-dayer, which India won by 62 runs and he will be replaced by wicketkeeper batsman Sanju Samson.

    — Zimbabwe Cricket (@ZimCricketv) July 13, 2015

    Rayudu will be sorely missed for the remainder of the series, which also includes two Twenty20 matches, as he was prolific in the two ODIs scoring 165 runs. 

    The Board of Control for Cricket in India said in a statement yesterday the right-handed batsman will take nearly three weeks to recover from the injury. 

    “Rayudu pulled his right quadriceps muscles and will require two to three weeks of rehabilitation,” BCCI said.

    Rayudu’s absence provides an opportunity for Samson to make his international debut. 

    The 20-year-old Kerala cricketer considered himself “lucky” to be selected for the series.

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    “I am very happy and excited that I have been given a chance to play in the Indian team,” Samson said.

    “The Indian team is the world’s best team. I am very lucky to get a call to play for the country,” he added.

    Samson’s selection puts pressure on part-time wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa, who has had a poor series so far.

    India, who have already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, will be looking to test their bench strength ahead of the Twenty20 matches.

    With the middle-order batsmen Uthappa, Manoj Tiwary and Kedar Jadhav failing to fire with a combined total of 58 runs in the two games, top order batsman Manish Pandey may get a look-in alongwith Samson.

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