Sanju Samson (L) and Rishabh Pant© X (formerly Twitter)
There has been a lot of speculations around the wicket-keeping position in the Indian cricket team when it comes to the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024. Ahead of the team selection, multiple players were in the fray but the selectors decided to go with Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant with KL Rahul becoming a high-profile exclusion. India captain Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar said that they were looking for middle-order batters when selecting wicket-keepers and that is why they excluded KL Rahul – someone who opened the batting for Lucknow Super Giants. Former India wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel named his pick between Samson and Pant for the playing XI in the T20 World Cup.
“There is no doubt about Sanju Samson when it comes to the way he has led and scored runs this season in the IPL. But Rishabh Pant comes with a different kind of variety. In the Indian batting lineup, we need the one left-hander in between. Looking at this point in time, Rishabh Pant looks like the favourite but they both are very capable players,” Patel said at an event in New Delhi.
Earlier, former India batter Yuvraj Singh also named his pick between Samson and Pant.
“I would probably go for Rishabh. Obviously, Sanju is also in great form, but Rishabh (is a) left-hander, and I believe that Rishabh has massive potential to win games for India, which he has done in the past. Lot more in Test cricket, and he’s someone who I feel can be a match-winner on the big stage,” Yuvraj told ICC.
Yuvraj also named a cricketer who will have to perform well for India to have a good T20 World Cup campaign.
“Suryakumar Yadav (is India’s key player). Because the way he plays, he can change the complexion of a game in 15 balls. And he is definitely a surety… for India to win this T20 World Cup, Surya is going to be the key,” said Yuvraj.
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