Wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson may not be in the Indian squad for the South Africa T20Is but the other members of the team couldn’t ignore him when they arrived in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday for the series opener. A section of cricket fans expressed outrage on social media when they didn’t find the Kerala cricketer in the squads for T20 World Cup and series against Australia and the Proteas. But the scenes were totally different at the Trivandrum airport when the team landed here on Monday morning.
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People gathered in number to welcome the Men in Blue with loud cheers. They gathered around the team bus to have a glimpse of their superstars. Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav, who had taken a window seat, was seen flashing the picture of Sanju on his mobile phone and was pointing it toward the fans around the bus.
The video of the moment was shared on Twitter by Rajasthan Royals, the IPL franchise led by Sanju Samson.
Check out the video:
RR Admin since 2013:pic.twitter.com/Tvb1VwsAuD
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) September 26, 2022
It wasn’t just Suryakumar Yadav but the likes of Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal also tagged Sanju, their IPL captain, on their Instagram stories while sharing the picture of the Trivandrum crowd.
Hello from Trivandrum. 😍💗 pic.twitter.com/xgOw92wqoL
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) September 26, 2022
The South African players also landed in the city on Monday morning and began training for the first game on Wednesday at the Greenfield Stadium. The hosts will begin sweating it out in the nets on Tuesday.
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The team captains – Rohit Sharma and Temba Bavuma – would meet the media as part of the pre-match interaction on September 27. The KCA said only 2,000 tickets are remaining for the match. The stadium has a capacity of 55,000 seats.
Kerala Cricket Association joint secretary Rejith Rajendran and Thiruvananthapuram District Cricket Association president Rajeev welcomed the Indian team at the airport.
“Team India will reach the ground for the practice on September 27. They will practice from 5 PM to 8 PM. The South African team will practice on the ground from 1.00 PM to 4.00 PM,” KCA said in a release.
The rates for the upper-tier, pavilion and KCA grandstand are Rs 1,500, Rs 2,750 and Rs 6,000 respectively. The tickets for the KCA grandstand seats would include expenses for food.
(With PTI Inputs)
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