Stand-in India skipper Shikhar Dhawan came out in defence of his side persisting with underperforming Rishabh Pant as the team’s lead wicketkeeper-batter despite Sanju Samson posing a bright replacement in the role.
Dhawan said Pant has been a match-winner for the ODI side, and that commands patience and a long rope even as Samson keeps his case healthy and strong with consistent performances in his sporadic opportunities.
Pant failed in his two outings of the recent T20 World Cup 2022 and has been under scrutiny even for his ODI failings after the just-completed series in New Zealand, in which he managed scores of 15 off 23 and 10 off 16 in his two innings.
That has piled on the pressure on the young left-hander even as his overall record at No.4 since the start of 2021 has been very good. In the given timeframe, Pant is averaging 44.63 with a strike-rate of 109.11 over 12 innings.
“Overall you have to see the larger picture and who is your match winner. You analyze and your decisions are based on that,”
Dhawan said after the washout in the third one-dayer in Christchurch on Wednesday at the post-match interaction.
Dhawan said it’s “not difficult” to be in captain’s shoes while having to pick one of Pant and Samson as India only stuck to the hierarchy for now. If Pant’s T20I troubles do cast a shadow on his ODI game, too, and the time comes for India to look in Samson’s direction, they would be approaching one of the country’s most talented players for the same role.
Samson has been magnificent since the beginning of his ODI career. In his limited chances, the elegant right-hander from Kerala has smashed 330 runs in 10 innings at an average of 66 with a high-end strike-rate of 104.76.
The player made an encouraging 36 in the first ODI in Auckland against the Black Caps before being benched for the inclusion of a sixth-bowler in Deepak Hooda as India looked to bolster their bowling stocks after the defeat in the first game.
“Of course, Sanju Samson has been doing really well in whatever opportunity he got,”
Dhawan said.
“But sometimes you got to wait for your chances, because the other player has done well and we know based on his (Pant’s) skill that he’s a match-winner. So you need to back him when he’s not doing well.”
