On September 12 (Thursday), Kerala wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson was picked in the playing XI for the first time in Duleep Trophy history. In the first round, India D fielded KS Bharat as their wicketkeeper batter, and the Andhra Pradesh batter could only score 13 and 16 in the clash against India C. 

While Bharat was not picked in the India squad, he was also replaced by Samson in the ongoing round of the Duleep Trophy against India A in Anantapur. It is Samson’s return to first-class cricket, with the Kerala batter’s last appearance in the red-ball format coming earlier this year against Bengal in February. 

Samson could only score eight in that clash before Shahbaz Ahmed ended his stay at the crease. The 29-year-old has amassed 3623 runs at the first-class level, averaging 38.54, with a strike rate of 58.6, scoring 16 50s and 10 hundreds. Thus far, Samson has already made an impact in the clash, with a catch to remove Mayank Agarwal. 

It would be interesting to see how he goes about his business with the bat against a strong India A bowling unit comprising Khaleel Ahmed, Prasidh Krishna, Tanush Kotian, Shams Mulani and Aaqib Khan.

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