Elegir a Samson para el Champions Trophy de la India fue la decisión correcta, explica Aakash Chopra

El último ODI de Samson se produjo en diciembre de 2023 y Pant solo ha jugado un ODI en los últimos 25 meses.

Sanju Samson remains a topic of discussion. Whether he’s scoring runs or not, you’ll find the cricketers in the news section more often than not. And since the India cricket team announced their squad for the ICC Champions Trophy yesterday and Samson wasn’t part of it, he’s in the headlines.

BCCI giving Pant, the Samson treatment

Many think he’s been unjustly treated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Rishabh Pant has been selected as the second wicketkeeper, with KL Rahul being the first choice, and quite a few think that Samson should have been picked over Pant. Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra wasn’t one of those who thought selecting Pant was the wrong call.

The cricketer-turned-commentator explains, citing Samson’s own treatment by the BCCI. When the batter was told to open in T20Is for Team India, he wasn’t ever averaging 20. Yet, the selectors took a punt on him, and it worked. Now, he’s a mainstay in the format.

“Rishabh Pant is there as a backup keeper. Why was there a question about whether to pick Sanju Samson or Pant? Whoever gets selected would get benched. But it’s a message regarding what you want to do and in which direction you want to go. Sometimes you have to take a call. When Sanju was made to open in T20Is, he was averaging just 19. But they backed his potential and said performance will come. Now he’s a permanent member of the T20I team,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

Sanju Samson & Rishabh Pant: ODI stats comparison

	Innings	Runs	Average	Strike Rate	100s	50s
Sanju Samson	14	510	56.66	99.60	1	3
Rishabh Pant	27	871	33.50	106.21	1	5

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The former Indian opener believes that BCCI backing Pant now makes sense as well. The southpaw has shown how good he is in Test cricket, and the Indian management thinks that he’ll come good in ODIs. Therefore, they’ve picked him over Samson.

“The same goes with Pant. He’s a generational talent who’s done more at the age of 25 than what India’s greatest wicketkeeper batters have done in their entire careers. He’s got runs in England, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand (in Tests). In white ball, he hasn’t established himself completely, but I would want to give him chances and keep him in the loop,” Aakash Chopra added.