Rishabh Pant vs Sanju Samson in ODI: When the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the T20 and ODI teams, many questions were raised. Especially regarding the team’s selection criteria… Understand it this way – the player whose performance in ODI was excellent was dropped from that format. Players like Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Rituraj Gaikwad were included in this list. While Sanju had scored a century in his last ODI, he was dropped from the ODI format itself. At the same time, Abhishek and Gaikwad’s performance in the recent Zimbabwe T20 series was excellent, both of them were dropped from T20.
In fact, in the recent meeting of BCCI, there was discussion on whether Sanju Samson or Rishabh Pant should be selected in ODIs. Because KL Rahul’s performance as a wicketkeeper in the ODI World Cup was excellent. In such a situation, the reason why Sanju was out of the team despite scoring a century in his last ODI has now come to light.
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🆙 Next 👉 Sri Lanka 🇱🇰#TeamIndia are back in action with 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is#INDvSL pic.twitter.com/aRqQqxjjV0
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 18, 2024
A source associated with BCCI told aajtak.in that when it came to Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson, Rohit Sharma intervened in the matter. Rohit decided to go with Rishabh Pant as wicketkeeper in ODI in BCCI meeting. This was the reason why Sanju Samson was selected in T20 but he was sidelined from ODI.
India’s T20 and ODI team for the Sri Lanka tour was announced on Thursday (July 18). But BCCI met for two days to select the Indian cricket team. That is, on Thursday and just a day before that on 17th July (Wednesday). The source told aajtak.in that the meeting was held online on both the days. Indian T20 World Cup team captain Rohit Sharma, Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar and Team India’s new coach Gautam Gambhir were present in this meeting. All of them attended the meeting online.
aajtak.in also has the information that when the online meeting was held on Wednesday, BCCI Secretary Jai Shah was also present in it, but when the team was announced on July 18, he was not in the meeting. At the same time, in this meeting, Jai Shah also once told the selectors that only he will have the right to choose the team.
Mumbai to Pallekele via Colombo ✈️ 🚌#TeamIndia have reached Sri Lanka 🇱🇰#SLvIND pic.twitter.com/ffDYJOV7wm
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 22, 2024
Ajit Agarkar had said this
On not including Sanju Samson in ODI, Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar had also clarified the entire situation in the press conference held on 22 July. Agarkar cited KL Rahul’s form in the ODI World Cup 2023. Whereas regarding Sanju, Ajit Agarkar said that it is unfortunate that someone will remain outside. Agarkar said that both of them (KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant) will have to perform, otherwise there are many players behind who can take their place. Agarkar also said that Pant has played only in T20 after his accident, so it is expected that he will perform better in ODIs.
Tharoor had raised questions on not including Samson
Talking about Sanju Samson, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had also raised questions on not selecting him in ODIs. Sanju Samson was dropped from the ODI team, that too when he had played a century in his last ODI against a team like South Africa. This match against South Africa on 21 December 2023 was Team India’s last match in this format at present.
Interesting squad selection for India’s tour of Sri Lanka later this month. @IamSanjuSamsonwho hit a century in his last ODI, has not been picked for ODIs, while @IamAbhiSharma4who hit a T20I century in the #INDvZIM series, has not been picked at all. Rarely has success in… pic.twitter.com/PJU5JxSOx2
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) July 18, 2024
KL Rahul’s recent performance in ODI
Talking about KL Rahul’s recent ODI performance, he was seen playing in the ODI series against South Africa in December 2023. The responsibility of captaincy in that series was in the hands of KL Rahul, which India won 2-1. KL Rahul had scored 77 runs in three matches of the ODI series. After that KL Rahul was seen playing in IPL 2024. Where he was at number seven in the list of top 10 run scorers. Rahul scored 520 runs in 1 match of IPL 2024 at an average of 37.14 and strike rate of 136.12.
In last year’s ODI World Cup, KL Rahul played 10 innings in 11 matches of the World Cup and scored 452 runs. His highest score was 102 runs. KL Rahul scored one century and two half-centuries at an average of 75.33 and strike rate of 90.76.
KL Rahul’s international career
50 Tests, 2863 runs, average 34.08, strike rate 52.23, 62 catches
75 ODIs, 2820 runs, average 50.35, strike rate 87.82, 62 catches, 5 stumps
72 T20s, 2265 runs, average 37.75, strike rate 139.12, 23 catches, 1 stumping
Sanju Samson’s international career
16 ODIs, 510 runs, 56.66 average, 99.60 strike rate, 9 catches, 2 stumps
28 T20s, 444 runs, 21.14 average, 133.33 strike rate, 16 catches, 4 stumps
Rishabh Pant’s international career
33 Tests, 2271 runs, average 43.67, catches 119, stumps 14
30 ODIs, 865 runs, average 34.60, strike rate 106.65, catch 26, stump 1
74 T20Is, Runs 1158, Average 22.70, Strike Rate, 126.55, Catches 40, Stumps 10