"After Rishabh Pant's return..." - Sanju Samson's ODI comeback hopes dashed by Saba Karim

Former India cricketer and selector Saba Karim opened up about the appointment of Shubman Gill as the vice-captain of Team India in white-ball formats. He believes that the young batter has been elevated because of his batting skills and it will be a huge learning for him.

In what was the biggest talking point in Indian cricket, young batter Shubman Gill was appointed as the vice-captain of the team in the white-ball format. The right-hander was elevated after the team for the T20I and the ODI series for the Sri Lanka tour was announced recently by the BCCI.

Shubman Gill first was named as the captain of the team for the recently concluded Zimbabwe tour. He showed great leadership skills and under his captaincy, the team won the series by the margin of 4-1. He also led from the front and ended the series as the leading run-getter.

This came as a bit of a surprise because him being preferred over KL Rahul in the vice-captaincy role in ODIs and over Hardik Pandya in T20Is raised quite a few eyebrows. He also captained Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2024 and recently it was revealed by selectors that he has impressed them.

Saba Karim while talking about the appointment of Shubman Gill as vice-captain said that a report by VVS Laxman during the Zimbabwe tour would've helped him. He also feels that it will be a big learning for the batter. Speaking to News 24, he explained:

"Shubman Gill has been elevated because of his leadership skills. He captained the team and India made a comeback in the Zimbabwe series. The team's report by VVS Laxman, the head coach, has influenced him a lot.

"I think this will be a big learning for Shubhman Gill. It seems that the selectors are thinking that if he continues to perform like this, he can be elevated as the captain."

It will be difficult for him to come back - Saba Karim on Sanju Samson

Saba Karim also talked about Sanju Samson getting dropped from the ODIs, claiming that it will be difficult for him to make a comeback in the team, especially with Rishabh Pant around. While elaborating on the same, he said:

"I think it will be difficult for Sanju Samson to be in the one-day set-up. We are seeing many new faces. There are fewer slots, especially after Rishabh Pant's return. If you look at his record, he (Pant) was excellent in one-day cricket.

"He wasn't as good in T20. He wasn't a part of the T20 team, in XI. But he was a part of the one-day team. That's why he was kept for the one-day set-up. I think it will be difficult for Sanju Samson in the one-day set-up. It will be difficult for him to come back."

In the last ODI that he played, Sanju Samson slammed a century as he smashed a match-winning ton against South Africa in their own backyard and played an innings of 108 runs off 114 balls at Paarl. Despite performing well, he hasn't been the first-choice keeper-batter for the team.