Even though the majority of the team that won the T20 World Cup, with the exception of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, are based in the island nation, it will be difficult to choose between Pant and Samson, two flamboyant wicketkeeper batters.
Even worse, one cannot fit both of the powerful hitters into the available spots. Samson, despite being a member of the team, did not play in any of the games. Pant, on the other hand, finished third for India in the T20 World Cup with 171 runs, as per PTI.
Lately, a bilateral series versus Sri Lanka has taken on a low-stakes nature since the two nations frequently play meaningless series, some of which India participates in to support other international cricket boards.
One such series was meant to be the one against Sri Lanka, but since Gambhir became the team’s coach and Suryakumar Yadav overtook Hardik Pandya, who was sure to be captain, the series has taken on more importance.
Given this context, the inclusion of Gambhir-a highly opinionated former opener for India and an accomplished franchise-level coach-would undoubtedly give him more influence over the makeup of the team, which will be determined over the course of the next two years in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup.
India hasn’t exactly had an easy job selecting a keeper-batter for T20Is, particularly when Pant was sidelined after a terrible car accident in December 2022.
Ishan Kishan was around for some time before he fell out of favour after leaving the tour of South Africa midway. Samson has featured in some games, so has Jitesh Sharma and Dhruv Jurel in the interim.
One of Pant’s peers, Samson, has played 28 Twenty20 International matches thus far, scoring 133 runs at a strike rate and hitting a few fifty. Though he made his debut in 2015, it is reasonable to claim that 27 of those games have occurred between 2020 and the present. Thus, playing 27 games irregularly over a period of three and a half years is not a lot of games to develop confidence.
Although average is a little less significant factor in the shortest format, the Kerala star acknowledges that 21.14 isn’t a fair representation of his enormous potential. However, Pant has three fifties and a strike-rate just under 127 in his 74 T20I appearances. Samson’s average so resembles that of the captain of the Delhi Capitals, who scored 22.70 goals per game.
There is not much to differentiate between the two in terms of sheer numbers. Both are daring strikers; Pant’s plummeting pull shots are impressive, while on his day, Samson is capable of hitting the fastest bowlers over extra cover for maximums.
Additionally, it will only be determined by how the new team management feels. While Samson was in the squad, he wasn’t even discussed during the T20 World Cup, and Rohit Sharma has unwavering faith in Pant’s ability.
But in the tour that followed the T20 World Cup, Samson played the final three games in Zimbabwe and was named deputy captain to Shubman Gill, while most of the first XI youngsters were rested.
In T20Is, keeping abilities aren’t as crucial because there aren’t many balls that would cause problems for the glovesmen. However, Pant is a considerably better keeper to spinners like Ravi Bishnoi.
Even before he played for the India U-19s, Gambhir saw Pant as an eighteen-year-old and was his first captain in the first class. However, throughout his time as a TV analyst, he has also been a strong supporter of Samson’s T20 abilities and has spoken out in favor of his selection.
It will be a difficult decision, and even if Pant is selected for the series, he is aware that in order to accumulate runs quickly and hold Samson at bay, he will also need to play a few big innings.
