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In a toss-up to get the green light for the playing XI between Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant, the latter has invariably come ahead in the pecking order. This may be vexing to sundry fans who clamour for Samson's inclusion and cricket experts whose patience is also running thin to see Kerala wicketkeeper warm the bench as the team management has shown unflinching support for the southpaw.
Samson was part of the first of three-ODI series where he outscored his counterpart with a decent 36 off 38 balls. In the rest two ODIs, Samson had to revert to his duties of being on the sidelines and Pant was given the go-ahead. The left-handed batter’s dismal continued as he managed to add only 10 more runs in the third ODI.
Former Pakistani right-arm leg spinner Danish Kaneria has aired his opinion vehemently as well on the Pant vs Samson debate. Kaneria bashed BCCI and the selectors for dropping Samson and went so far as to accuse them of 'internal politics'.
He said on his YouTube channel dredging up the case of Ambati Rayudu whose career the former Pakistani cricketer claims to have ended in the same manner: "Ambati Rayudu’s career ended similarly. He scored a lot of runs, but he also faced zyadti (excessiveness). The reason is BCCI and the selection committee’s internal politics. Is there liking or disliking among players?”
“How much can a player tolerate? He already tolerates a lot and scores wherever he gets the opportunity. We might lose a good player because he faces the torture of selection and non-selection in the team. Everyone wants to see his strokes in extra-cover, cover, and especially pull shots,” he added.
Earlier Pant had said that he does not feel his white-ball record is bad and people should compare him with anyone much later in his career. Pant highest score in the last 10 innings in limited-overs cricket (ODIs and T20Is) is 27. While his numbers in Test cricket are unmatched, he seems to be walking on thin ice in white-ball cricket.
