Sanju Samson Or Rishabh Pant? MSK Prasad Reveals Who Will Keep The Wickets Against Bangladesh

Sanju Samson, on Thursday (October 24), finally made it to the Indian team for the upcoming T20I series against Bangladesh. Sanju Samson had earned his maiden India call-up way back in 2014 for the tour of England but had not played any game during that series. He eventually made his debut on Zimbabwe tour in the following year.

However, he was dropped from the team after the Zimbabwe tour and has now finally made it to the national team. The call comes on the back of some stunning performance from the Kerala star in domestic circuit, Indian Premier League and for India A. Last month, he blasted 91 from just 48 balls to propel India A to a win over South Africa A.

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Recently, he also scored a double century for Kerala in Vijay Hazare Trophy. Sanju Samson will now have a chance to seal his spot in the Indian team. He, however, is set to play in the team only as a top-order batsman and not wicketkeeper-batsman. Chief selector MSK Prasad has clarified that Rishabh Pant will continue to don the wicketkeeping gloves while Samson will play as a top-order batsman.

“Sanju Samson included as proper batsman, Pant to continue as wicket keeper. Sanju’s problem 3-4 years back was inconsistency. Now he has improved. He had a fantastic A series and wonderful Vijay Hazare. We consider him as a top-order batsman,” said Prasad.

Pant has been under pressure to deliver for quite some time now. He failed to impress in the World Cup and his fortunes did not change against West Indies and South Africa either. With Sanju Samson breathing down his neck, the left-handed batsman need to start delivering quickly.

Meanwhile, the selectors have also included Mumbai allrounder Shivam Dube in the T20I squad. The left-handed batsman has impressed with his hard-hitting skills and bowling and can be tried out in the playing eleven as a special allrounder in absence of Hardik Pandya.