Along with Rishabh Pant, whenever there is another wicketkeeper-batter in the squad it becomes a matter of debate that whom to go ahead with. Till the T20 World Cup 2022, the toss-up was between Dinesh Karthik and Pant. And now, when the likes of Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan are here, the tussle has gotten stronger.
While Ishan Kishan has got enough opportunities since his debut in 2021, Sanju, who played his first international game in 2015, has been overlooked on numerous occasions. The curious case of Samson took the center stage during the ongoing New Zealand tour when he was left to warm the bench in the entire T20Is and was dropped again after playing the 1st ODI in Auckland which India lost by 7 wickets.
Former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull recently gave his opinion on the Pant vs Sanju debate. Speaking with renowned broadcaster Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz, Doull said the Kerala cricketer should get a long rope.
“Rishabh Pant’s record is a decent sample size. He has played just under 30 games and only averages 35, the strike rate is good. But Sanju in 11 games is averaging 60 something. And I don’t think he is any less of a wicketkeeper. I just think he deserves an opportunity as well,” Doull said.
“The Rishabh Pant vs Sanju Samson debate is an interesting one for me. There is so much talk about Rishabh Pant, and how he is the future. But in white-ball formats, he hasn’t quite done it. Unbelievable Test player, and he is a shoo-in in Tests as the wicketkeeper-batter, no issue with that? But is he the best white-ball keeper batter? I am not convinced,” he pointed out.
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Pant has impressive stats in Test cricket. He has a century each in India, Australia, England and South Africa and has more than 2000 runs in just 31 games. But the numbers aren’t promising in the limited-overs format. 855 runs in 29 ODIs and 987 runs in 66 T20 Internationals while the average in not even 40 in both formats.
Whereas Sanju has played 11 ODIs and scored 330 runs at an average of 66. In T20Is, he has 196 from 16 games and averages 21.14.
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