Harbhajan Singh wants the national selectors to pick Sanju Samson ahead of Rishabh Pant for next month's Champions Trophy.

The former India spinner has regularly batted for Sanju, and had been one of the first to advocate his case ahead of the T20 World Cup. Sanju deservedly made that squad and became only the third Keralite after Sunil Valson and S Sreesanth to lift a World Cup.

This time too, Harbhajan thinks Sanju deserves to be the UAE for India's matches in the 50-over event. Though Pakistan is hosting the Champions Trophy, India's matches are scheduled in the neutral nation due to diplomatic issues. India's first match is against Bangladesh in Dubai on February 20.

“Sanju should get the nod ahead of Rishabh Pant. Sanju played exceptionally well in South Africa. Rishabh too played well in Australia, but it was a long tour so maybe he could get a rest,” Harbhajan said in his YouTube show, where he announced his pick for the event. Harbhajan thinks Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli cannot be dropped despite their poor form of late. He has also backed Shubhman Gill to make the cut though the BCCI dropped the young batter for the upcoming T20I series against England.

Sanju last played an ODI in South Africa on December 21, 2023, where he scored a century. He also hit three centuries in his last five T20Is.

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