Suryakumar Yadav wears Sanju Samson's jersey during 1st India vs West Indies ODI; here's why

Sanju Samson wasn’t picked for the first ODI against West Indies by India but his presence was felt on the pitch as batter Suryakumar Yadav wore the Kerala player’s jersey on Thursday during the game at Barbados.

But SKY was not trying to pay some tribute to Samson by wearing his jersey. In fact, the Mumbai batter was forced to wear someone else’s jersey as he had issues with the size of his own shirt.

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As per a report, Suryakumar was handed a ‘medium’ size shirt instead of a ‘large’ jersey and because a replacement was not available, SKY asked Samson for his jersey. Due to the rules not allowing a player to tape the name behind the shirts, Surykumar played wearing a jersey that sported Samson’s name at the back.

Samson didn’t play in the first ODI as Ishan Kishan was picked as the wicket-keeper over him.

Surykumar will only be able to get his hands on a new jersey after the second ODI, a report in The Indian Express said.

“There was some size issue with his jersey. We were told about it two days before the game. He will be receiving his new jersey after the second ODI as the BCCI has shipped it with Indian team players selected for the T20 series. Till then he will be wearing his team mate jersey while playing,” a BCCI source told The Indian Express.

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Coming to the match. West Indies were put in to bat first after India won the toss. Shai Hope was the top run-getter for the hosts with a knock of 43 as West Indies were bowled out for 114.

Kuldeep Yadav took four wickets in three overs while Ravindra Jadeja returned with three wickets.

In reply, Ishan Kishan scored a blistering 52 as India finished the chase inside 23 overs to win the match by five wickets.