Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant are frontrunners for wicketkeeper's spot in T20Is (Source:@BCCI/X.com)
Sanju Samson has long been termed as an inconsistent cricketer and has been guilty of throwing away his opportunities in international cricket in the past. However, he has matured a lot in the last couple of years and has brought consistency to his game, something which shows in his ODI numbers.
He recently hit a 40-ball century in a T20I against Bangladesh and that has reignited his T20I career. It has opened up the debate again on who should be India's first wicketkeeper choice between Pant and Samson in T20Is. Pant has been fantastic over the years in Test cricket, but his white-ball numbers have not been great and he has especially struggled in T20Is. However, he has got more chances than Samson and has played 76 T20Is compared to Samson's 33.
So, to keep the comparison between the two fair, let's compare Samson and Pant's stats after 33 T20Is.
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Sanju Samson vs Rishabh Pant - Stats After 33 T20Is
Sanju Samson has played 29 innings in his 33 T20Is and has scored 594 runs at an average of 22.84 and a strike rate of 144.52. He has one century that came in his 33rd T20I and has two fifties to go with it. Rishabh Pant, on the other hand completed his 33 T20Is after the England series in March 2021. He also batted in 29 innings and scored 512 runs in those with an average less than Samson. He had an average of 21.3 and a strike rate of 123 at that point in time and had two T20I fifties in his kitty.
| Player | Matches | Runs | Average |
Strike Rate
| 50s/100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanju Samson | 33 | 594 | 22.84 | 144.52 | 2/1 |
| Rishabh Pant | 33 | 512 | 21.3 | 123 | 2/0 |
Pant has played 43 T20Is more since then and his career average is still 23.25 and the strike rate is 127.26. He has scored just one fifty in those 43 T20Is and has struggled to get going at a good rate in T20Is in recent past.
Conclusion
So, Rishabh Pant has clearly not lived upto his billing in T20Is. Sanju Samson's numbers are not great either, but they are still better than Rishabh Pant both in average and in strike rate after 33 matches. Also, Pant has got more opportunities to prove himself (76 T20Is) which is a quite a long rope in any format. So, after comparing stats of both the players in T20Is, Sanju Samson can be considered as better T20I batter.
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