Tom Moody shared an interesting analysis, where he picked India’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batter for the T20 World Cup, between Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant.
With the T20 World Cup scheduled for June, all eyes will be on Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson, who will be battling for Team India’s wicketkeeper-batter spot in the playing XI. The pair are the only wicketkeeper-batters in the squad, with KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan missing out. Rahul was the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter in the ODI World Cup last year, but has lost his place in the squad.
Both players are having good seasons with their respective IPL teams, but Tom Moody feels that Pant should start over Samson in the T20 World Cup, as he is a left-hander. Speaking on Star Sports, he said, “Absolutely, he does. I think his added advantage is that he is a left-hander, which I think is going to be really important to have that sort of point of difference in the middle order, particularly in the middle overs, which is probably the time that he’ll come into the game,” he said.
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“You don’t want to sort of find yourself in a position where you’re stuck with two right-handers and your opposition line up bowlers accordingly. So I think he gives you that flexibility, and he’s a specialist middle order player. Sanju Samson is a specialist number three. So you’re asking a specialist number three. It’s not saying he can’t do it, but to move into number five when you’ve already got one on your books. Why wouldn’t you? Why wouldn’t you give that opportunity to the person that is used to sitting in that seat?”
Pant has been in sensational form in his comeback season, after missing out more than a year of cricket due to a freak car accident. In 11 matches, he has registered 398 runs at a strike rate of 158.56, packed with three fifties.
“We thought he may play as an impact sub and just come out as a batter. But to think that he could play every single game and every single game as captain, keep and bat without any sort of repercussions is quite extraordinary. So it’s one of the great comeback stories, you know, from a devastating sort of incident. He’s fought and worked extremely hard to get to the point that he’s in right now and he’s probably the fittest he’s ever been,” he added.
Under his captaincy, DC have fought back after a poor start and are sixth in the IPL 2024 points table with 10 points in 11 games.
