Sunil Gavaskar, former India captain, has spoken out on the team’s playing lineup for the T20 World Cup, specifically the wicketkeeping department. India’s 15-man roster for the competition will include two wicketkeepers, Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson. While Samson had a successful season with the bat in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Pant also had a remarkable return to competitive cricket during the same event.
Gavaskar weighed in on the discussion about who should be India’s first choice between the two, suggesting that Pant should be selected based on his glove work.
“Yeah, I believe that Rishabh Pant is a superior wicketkeeper than Samson just based on skill comparison. Not that batting isn’t important here; it isn’t the only factor. However, Rishabh Pant has been batting pretty well in the last few games. Conversely, Sanju Samson had an amazing start to the Indian Premier League season, smashing the ball to every part of the pitch and scoring runs at will, according to Gavaskar on Star Sports.
Due to his recent hitting success, Gavaskar did, however, imply that Pant may possibly be considered by the club management as the first choice keeper. In addition, he made note of the fact that although Samson had a strong IPL start, his performance had deteriorated.
“He has struggled to score runs in the last two or three games. For him, therefore, the match versus Bangladesh was an opportunity. I think the Indian selection committee will consider Rishabh Pant for the goalie role, he continued. If he had received a score of roughly 50–60, there would have been no doubt.”
In India’s warm-up match against Bangladesh on Saturday, Samson and Pant both saw considerable action. Still, each had somewhat different bat-related experiences. Pant was the highest scorer in his debut game wearing the Indian colors in more than eighteen months, while Samson managed just one run in his six-ball stint in the middle.
