Legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar has opened the match against wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson after being left out of Team India's squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy. Despite much talk about his inclusion in the 15-man squad, Samson was disappointed to be left out of the squad on Saturday. KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant were picked as the designated wicketkeepers, with the decision to dismiss Samson receiving a lot of backlash. Gavaskar suggested that abandoning the debate may have been a tough pill to swallow for Samson.
“Very tough because the guy has scored hundreds and hundreds of runs. There is no excuse to leave him out. But he was up against Rishabh Pant, who we all know can be a game-changer. Moreover, Pant is a left-hander and he is probably the better wicketkeeper, although he may not be the better batsman than Samson,” Gavaskar said in an interview with India Today.
However, Gavaskar explained the logic behind the selectors choosing Pant over Samson, calling the former a “better keeper”.
“Pant might change the game a little more than Samson and that is the reason why Samson missed out. But Samson should not feel dejected because all Indian cricket lovers will sympathize with him for what he has achieved,” Gavaskar added.
Since his ODI debut, Samson has been in and out of the team, with the selectors often ignoring him despite his stellar record in the 50-over format.
He has played just 16 ODIs in almost a decade, scoring 510 runs at an average of 56.66 and a strike-rate of 99.60, with a hundred and fifty-three runs to show for his efforts.
Indian squad for Champions Trophy 2024:
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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