Former Indian medium-pacer Irfan Pathan has expressed his surprise at the omission of Kerala star Sanju Samson from the Indian team for the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series against Australia ahead of the World Cup.

Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad was included in the 15-member squad for the first two matches, while middle-order batter Tilak Varma who made his ODI debut in the recent Asia Cup was retained as captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were rested. Both Rohit and Kohli will be back for the final ODI.

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"If I’m in place of @IamSanjuSamson right now I will be very disappointed," posted Pathan on X formerly Twitter.

The 28-year-old Sanju has been overlooked as the selectors have picked K L Rahul and Ishan Kishan as wicketkeeper-batters for the World Cup. Shreyas Iyer, who has not yet regained full fitness, and a struggling Suryakumar Yadav have been preferred over Sanju.

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Sanju has also not been picked for the Hangzhou Asian Games.

The ODI series against Australia begins at Mohali on Friday.

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