Sanju Samson or Rishabh Pant? Sunil Gavaskar reveals his pick for ICC T20 World Cup 2024

Sunil Gavaskar feels Rishabh Pant is leading the race as India’s first-choice wicket-keeper.

Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has given his opinion on the debate regarding India’s first-choice wicket-keeper between Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Both Samson and Pant had a brilliant run with the bat for their respective franchises in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

The Rohit Sharma-led India will play their first group-stage match against the Paul Stirling-led Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on June 5. Before their opening game of the tournament against Ireland, the Men in Blue played their only warm-up fixture against Bangladesh on June 1 at the same venue in New York.

In a bid to provide opportunities to both Samson and Pant, Samson opened with Rohit Sharma, while Pant came in at No. 3 against Bangladesh.

Samson failed to grab the opportunity as he was dismissed for only one run in six balls. But, Pant smashed 53 runs of 32 and contributed to India’s 60-run win in the warm-up fixture.

Rishabh is a better wicket-keeper than Samson: Sunil Gavaskar

Gavaskar shared his thoughts about both Pant and Samson. The former Indian skipper reckons Pant should be the preferred choice over Samson as he is the better wicket-keeper. Gavaskar added that Pant has been in good touch in his last few knocks.

“Yes, I think simply because if you compare the wicketkeeping abilities then Rishabh Pant is a better wicketkeeper than Samson. We’re not talking about batting here, the batting aspect also comes into play. But, Pant in the last few matches has batted really well,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying to Star Sports.

The legendary cricketer also added that Samson started his IPL 2024 season on a good note, but in the last few matches, he didn’t get runs under his belt.

“On the other hand, Sanju Samson started the IPL season superbly, scored runs at will, hitting the ball to all corners of the ground. In the last two-three matches, he didn’t quite get runs. So this was an opportunity for him actually the match against Bangladesh. If he had scored about 50-60 then there would have been no question but I do feel that the Indian selection committee will look at having Rishabh Pant as the keeper,” he asserted.

For more updates, follow Khel Now Cricket for IPL 2024 Live Score & IPL Points Table,  on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.