Rishabh Pant Or Sanju Samson? Who Will Be Team India's Wicketkeeper In 1st T20I Against Bangladesh

Going into the T20I series against Bangladesh, India have two wicketkeeping options in form of Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson. Rishabh has been a regular part of the limited-overs’ team since 2018 while Samson made his comeback to the squad after four years.

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Both the players have an equal chance to the be part of the playing XI for the T20I series but Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has said that they will stick with Rishabh, confirming that Samson will not be keeping the wickets. He will play as a specialist batsman if given a chance.

“Both wicket-keepers (Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson) that we have in our squad are pretty talented. We have stuck with Pant, this is the format that gave him recognition. We have to stick with him for a while, we know how well he can take the game forward if he has his day,” Roht said on the eve of the first T20I in Delhi.

In the absence of MS Dhoni, India are banking on Rishabh to succeed the former India captain in the white-ball format. He has been dropped from playing XI in Tests but going into the next two T20I World Cups, it is clear that Rishabh will get oodles of chances to fix his spot in the team.

Though he would be dropped from the squad should he fail to make the chances count.

Before the South Africa T20I series, India head coach Ravi Shastri had criticised the youngster for his shot selection and had said that there will be a rap on the knuckles, talent or no talent.

During the series, he did get out while playing a rash shot. Despite Rishabh’s great outing with the bat in Australia Tests, he was dropped from the playing XI for the home series against South Africa as Wriddhiman Saha walked back into playing XI.

Also Read: Bangladesh’s playing XI for 1st T20I vs India

In white-ball cricket, Samson and Ishan Kishan are two players who will challenge Rishabh but as said, he will get enough backing as India are looking at him in white-ball cricket.

The first T20I of the series will be played in Delhi on November 3. The next two T20Is will be played on November 7 and 10 in Rajkot and Nagpur, respectively. Following the T20Is, the two teams will play a two-match Test series.