With Rishabh Pant getting back in form right before the squad announcement for the upcoming T20 World Cup starting from June 1, a cloud of uncertainty started brewing whether the Rajasthan Royals Captain, Sanju Samson make it into the squad.
Despite losing against Kolkata Knight Riders by 106 runs, Delhi Capitals’ Skipper Rishabh Pant displayed another positive batting performance. Since returning from the fatal accident which sidelined him for around 15 months, cricketing fans and experts all around were doubtful about Pant’s ability to be back to his best. Four games into the season and Pant is letting his bat do the talking, scoring back to back half centuries. He smashed 55 of 25 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders, hitting 4 boundaries and 5 over boundaries with a strike rate of 220.
The 26 year, wicketkeeper batsman also scored a 32 ball 51 against defending champions Chennai Super Kings in the match before.
Fifty after 465 days and it had to be in the City of Destiny 🥺#YehHaiNayiDilli #IPL2024 #DCvCSK pic.twitter.com/kag6cMaAta
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) March 31, 2024
Sanju, who has been a consistent performer for Rajasthan Royals for years which eventually earned him the captaincy. But he couldn’t replicate similar kind of performances for the men in blue with the limited chances he got. Contrary to Pant’s slow start in the first two matches, Sanju started the season brilliantly scoring 82 off 52 deliveries. In the next two matches, he failed to keep that opening momentum and managed to score only 27 runs combined.
The likely choices for the wicketkeeper batsman role for team India in the upcoming World Cup would have been, Sanju Samson, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan or Jitesh Sharma. But with Pant’s arrival back on the scene, the team management will be rethinking their selection dynamics once again.
In Pant’s absence, the Indian team management tried multiple wicketkeepers to fill the void but none of them could make the spot their own. With Pant slowly returning back to his form, the ticket to the World Cup landing on his lap wouldn’t be a surprise to many.
BCCI is likely to announce the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup by the last week of April, as the teams are to submit their squad before May 1. The first set of players will head to New York right after the end of IPL group stage matches on 19th May. The selected players in the playoffs will join the squad later on.