T20 World Cup: Only a few days are left for the start of T20 World Cup 2024 and the discussion has intensified regarding which players will get a chance in the playing eleven. Who should open with Rohit Sharma? Who should be the spinners in the team? Who will get the command of fast bowling along with Jasprit Bumrah? The answer to every question is not easy. If there is any most difficult question after the opening, then it is that of the wicketkeeper, in which there is a competition between Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson. Everyone has their own opinion about who should get this place, but Samson has made his claim very strong and he seems to be the rightful owner of it.
Pant number-1 contender
The Board of Control for Cricket in India had announced the squad for the T20 World Cup on April 30, in which Rishabh Pant and Samson were selected for the roles of wicketkeeper-batsman. This will be Pant's third T20 World Cup, while Samson will be a part of an ICC event for the first time. Both the players have come to this World Cup with different circumstances. Pant is making a comeback after being away from cricket for one and a half years, while Samson has been successful in making a place on the basis of an excellent season after being continuously ignored.
According to the news received from the sources till now, the team management has been calling Rishabh Pant the first choice for the playing eleven. Pant has scored 413 runs in 12 innings so far in the tournament at an average of 41 and a strong strike rate of 156. The reason for keeping him in the team, apart from good wicketkeeping and batting, is that he is a left-handed batsman, the lack of which is being missed by Team India.
Samson said- that is a better option
Despite this, looking at the performance of IPL 2024, Sanju Samson seems to be a better option this time and one of the many examples of this was seen against Rishabh Pant's Delhi Capitals on Tuesday. Samson played an innings of 86 runs in just 46 balls in this match. The special thing was that his innings came when he came into the crease on the third ball of Rajasthan. While counter-attacking, Samson scored 41 runs in just 16 balls and did not allow Delhi to take advantage of the initial success.
However, Samson could not lead the team to victory and his controversial dismissal can also be held responsible for that, but despite this defeat, Samson showed that he looks more prepared at the moment. The thing that goes in his favor was also mentioned by former Australian great Matthew Hayden during a discussion. Hayden said that at the moment Sanju's game is equally good against spin and pace and he knows how to 'time' the innings, that is, how to give pace.
Samson showed consistency
So far this season, Samson has scored 471 runs in 11 innings at an excellent average of 67 and a tremendous strike rate of 163. In this way, he is currently ahead of Pant in every sense. The most important thing is that Samson has shown consistency in this season in terms of scoring runs, for which he was criticized every time till last season. Although Samson has scored these runs at number three, he has the ability to hit big shots from the very first ball in any situation. His ability will be needed especially on the slow pitches of West Indies.