Sanju Samson, who was named in both T20I and ODI squads for the New Zealand series, was not picked for the T20I games, with Captain Hardik Pandya explaining it as an 'unfortunate' case and a 'strategic' reason.
Samson played the first ODI against the Kiwis, but despite a decent knock was dropped from the playing XI for the second match which mystified many Indian cricket followers.
ODI Captain Shikhar Dhawan, who brought in Deepak Hooda ahead of Samson for the second game, explained that the move was made to have a sixth bowling option.
The mysterious omissions of the talented Samson led to banners in the Kerala cricketer's support at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar no less.
'Lots of love from Qatar. We support you, Sanju Samson' read one banner spotted at a stadium during a World Cup game.
Another photograph that surfaced on the Internet shows a flex which read, 'Regardless of the match, the team or the player, we are with you'.
The Rajasthan Royals, which Samson captains in the IPL, took to Twitter to share the love of fans.
