Sanju Samson vs Rishabh Pant ODI Stats Comparison: 50 Average In Vain For Kerala Batter (Source: AP)
Sanju Samson was snubbed from the India squad for the ICC Champions Trophy as the selectors sided with Rishabh Pant. Samson's omission from the squad triggered a debate among the fans if Pant's selection was the right call. Pant has been a first-choice keeper for India in Tests, but he hasn't played a lot of white ball cricket, especially ODIs. Pant only has one ODI under his belt since 2022.
Sanju Samson, on the other hand, has performed exceptionally well for India in shorter formats. He scored two centuries in the T20I series against South Africa recently. He also scored a hundred in the preceding T20I series against Bangladesh. He hasn't been given a long run in ODIs so far, with the wicketkeeper-batter playing only 16 ODIs since making his debut in 2021. He was given an opportunity mostly when the senior players were rested, but he did well.
Pant vs Samson ODI Stats
In 16 ODIs, Samson averages 56.7, scoring 510 runs, with three fifties and a hundred. Rishabh Pant, on the other hand, averages 33.5 in 31 matches, and scored 871 runs, including a hundred and five fifties. The century came in the last ODI he played in December 23 in South Africa. Samson took the South Africa tour by storm and it was expected that he would finally get a permanent berth in white-ball cricket, but that was not the case to be.
For Samson fans, the snub is harsh and numbers do prove that he has done better than Pant in ODIs, but despite being competing for the same spot, Pant's batting position was an advantage. While Pant bats in the middle or lower middle order, and can also be used as a floater, Samson is mostly a top order batter and with Kohli, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer in the mix, it would have been tough for him to find a place in the XI.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja.
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