Indian national cricket team are currently in New Zealand playing the ODI series. Earlier, the T20I series between both the teams came to a close in India’s favour.
India beat New Zealand by 1-0 in the T20I series under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya. During the tour, there was one thing that constantly made it to the headlines.
The Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson debate is not ending anytime soon. Experts and fans were of the opinion that Sanju Samson hasn’t been getting enough chances as compared to Rishabh Pant in the first place.
During the T20I series, Rishabh Pant was preferred ahead of Sanju Samson. However, Pant failed to bring the best out of himself as an opener, scoring 6 runs in second T20I.
When everyone expected the team management to give a chance to Sanju Samson in the third T20I, the Kerala-born cricketer was once again overlooked for the series decider.
Rishabh Pant once again failed to do justice with the bat. Coming out to bat as an opener, he could score only 12 runs to his name.
Simon Doull Opens Up On Rishabh Pant-Sanju Samson Debate
During the ODI series between India and New Zealand, Sanju Samson got a chance to play the first ODI at Eden Park in Auckland.
However, he was able to score 38 runs including 4 boundaries. Some criticized the batter’s slow approach to the game. Meanwhile, the New Zealand commentator Simon Doull has opened up on Rishabh Pant-Sanju Samson debate.
“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,” Simon Doull told in a Cricbuzz video.
“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 shoe-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 added.
India’s ODI squad against New Zealand
Shikhar Dhawan (C), Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (VC and WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik
