3 Reasons Why Sanju Samson Has Been Selected Over Rishabh Pant In England T20Is

Aashay Chopade

Sanju Samson has been preferred over Rishabh Pant (Source:@riseup_pant17/X.com)Sanju Samson has been preferred over Rishabh Pant (Source:@riseup_pant17/X.com)

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India's squad for England T20Is has been finally revealed and there are some big changes in the squad. Mohammed Shami is back after a gap of more than a year while Axar Patel has been named as the vice-captain of the side.

Also, Dhruv Jurel has been selected in the T20I squad as well and is the second wicketkeeper alongside Sanju Samson. It means that Rishabh Pant continues to be out of the T20I setup after the T20 World Cup 2024 and it is quite a bold move from the Indian selectors. Let's now try to find out the reasons behind Sanju Samson's selection over Rishabh Pant in England T20Is

Sanju Samson's Exploits In T20Is And Pant's Struggle

Sanju Samson, over the years has struggled to find a regular place in the Indian side. However, in the last couple of T20I series, he has proved his worth and has smashed three centuries in five matches. He started off with a hundred against Bangladesh and then hammered two centuries against South Africa in the rainbow nation to announce his arrival on the big stage.

He scored all his centuries as an opener and seemed to have find his mojo finally at the top of the order. Rishabh Pant, on the other hand, has struggled in T20Is and after 76 T20Is, he has an average of just 23. 25 at a strike-rate of 127.26 compared to Samson's 155.17. So, Samson has shown consistency with a good strike-rate and seem to be now the first-choice wicketkeeper in India's T20I squad.

Rishabh Pant's Workload Management With Champions Trophy In Sights

Rishabh Pant's exclusion can also be attributed to the cautious approach selectors are taking for him after his comeback from a major accident. There have been reports that selectors and team management want Rishabh Pant to get adequate rest between the series, and as the wicketkeeper batter played all five Tests in BGT recently, he deserves to get some rest.

Also, there is a big tournament like Champions Trophy coming up. India are set to play three ODI against England before that tournament and Pant is likely to play a big part in that series, so the decision to not play him in T20Is seems to be a logical one.

Competition In India's Middle Order

India have always been the team with truckloads of talent and the young unit under Suryakumar Yadav has done pretty well in the shortest format. In the white-ball formats, India have been looking for players who can both bat and bowl and so they have gone with players like Nitish Reddy, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar in the middle order.

Also, the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Rinku Singh and Tilak Varma can all roll their arms and everyone of them have done well in the shortest format. Therefore, there was little room to accommodate a player like Rishabh Pant in the middle order who has struggled to shine in the format for a long time and the new-management seem to have their players sorted out for T20Is.