Harbhajan Singh picks this player as the wicketkeeper for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy and it’s not Rishabh Pant

Former cricketer Harbhajan Singh mulled over India’s wicketkeeping criterion for the side’s unit for the playing XI for the Champions Trophy tournament to be hosted in Pakistan starting February 19, while the India squad for the ICC event remains to be announced. Though the ICC has fixed January 12, 2024, as the deadline for submitting the squad, the BCCI has last sought a one-week extension on that front. The announcement of the team is still pending, however, Harbhajan Singh, ex-India spinner, expressed that the wicketkeeper to play in XI should ideally be Sanju Samson.

“My wicketkeeper will be Sanju Samson. Sanju Samson is first choice,” Harbhajan told YouTube channel ‘Switch’.

India will need to do some soul-searching regarding selecting a wicketkeeper in their playing XI. Rishabh Pant was perhaps the clear-cut best options in the department before a life-threatening accident in 2022 sidelined him until early 2024. Between then and January, the Indian selection committee experimented with different options to fill the void, yet failed to find a competent replacement. Once Pant returned into the side, Samson has emerged as a hot commodity in the white-ball format.

As soon as Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from T20Is, Sanju grabbed the chance with both hands. While opening for India in T20I, he classily showed himself against Bangladesh in India with a century.

Later, the seasoned batter also became the first player to hit three centuries in T20Is within the duration of a calendar year.

Recently, Harbhajan shared his views about India’s spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel. The former player felt that the southpaw was ready to step into Ravindra Jadeja’s shoes for the Indian side.

Jadeja, an all-rounder who has been in form for almost all aspects of the game, now had to face a scenario where his place in the team seems jeopardized. With Axar Patel striding forward ahead of him, it has come down to either of the two shouldering the burden to Dubai. If it so occurs, Harbhajan would rather have Axar traveling with the Men in Blue to Dubai rather than Jadeja.

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