Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar believes Rishabh Pant is a better wicket keeper than Sanju Samson. While Pant scored 53 runs in the warm-up match against Bangladesh on Saturday, Samson could only manage a solitary run when he was asked to open the innings.
Meanwhile, Pant scored 446 runs in 13 matches of IPL 2024 at an average of 40.55 and a strike rate of 155.40 while leading Delhi Capitals. On the other hand, Samson scored 531 runs in 15 innings at an average of 48.27 and a strike rate of 153.46, with five half-centuries in IPL 2024.
Gavaskar said India will start with Rishabh Pant ahead of Sanju Samson as he feels the former is a better stumper.
“Yes, I think simply because if you compare the wicketkeeping abilities then Rishabh Pant is a better wicketkeeper than Samson. We’re not talking about batting here, the batting aspect also comes into play. But, Rishabh Pant in the last few matches has batted really well. On the other hand, Sanju Samson started the IPL season superbly, scored runs at will, hitting the ball to all corners of the ground,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.
The Little Master feels Samson would have been a favorite to play against Ireland if he had scored runs in the warm-up match against Ireland.
“In the last two-three matches, he didn’t quite get runs. So this was an opportunity for him actually the match against Bangladesh. If he had scored about 50-60 then there would have been no question but I do feel that the Indian selection committee will look at having Rishabh Pant as the keeper,” he added.
It will be interesting to note who India would back as a wicket-keeper in the T20I showpiece. India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5th.
