Sanju Samson's snub baffling as Rishabh Pant continues to fail
Rishabh Pant and poor shot selection has now become a better love story than Twilight. It seems that the flamboyant southpaw's string of poor performances is hard to stop. In the third T20I against West Indies, he was promoted to No.3 spot to have a go at the already battered Windies bowlers but being Rishabh Pant, he wasted yet another chance at redemption. Pant, playing just the second ball of his innings, lofted the cherry over long-on and he got what he deserved - a sweet dismissal as Jason Holder made no mistake to grab the sitter.
Pant's last fifty in international cricket came on August 6 this year against West Indies in a T20I clash, and before that, he had an awful World Cup campaign. The problem with Pant is that he is a tremendous striker of the ball but his mindset is not as strong as his power-hitting. He doesn't know which bowler to attack and which to defend, he applied the most overrated technique in cricket of see 'the ball and hit the ball', which can only be effective if you have a strong mindset.
Lack of the first-class experience is one reason why Pant is consistently not been able to soak the pressure put on him. He has played only 34 first-class games, though he has performed well in them, he is yet to be fully ready for the international stage.
The way team management is backing Pant might backfire at them soon, as they are killing chances for other wicketkeepers like Sanju Samson.
Samson is one of the most promising talents of India but he was ignored by the selectors for a long time due to Mahendra Singh Dhoni as he was the backbone and captain of the Indian team at that time. Samson played his sole match for India - a T20 - in July 2015 when a second-string team toured Zimbabwe. He was 19 then.
Team Management's consistent backing for Pant left Samson out of contention for the playing XI. Fair to say that it is unfair to select a young player for two consecutive series without giving him a single opportunity, and also excluding him from the next series. Samson was widely expected to play in the second T20I against Windies as it was being played at his hometown Thiruvananthapuram, but Pant was again preferred over him.
It's tough to be Sanju Samson in Indian cricket, as when you have so much talent and remain just a step away from showcasing it to the world, you're constantly being denied a moment to perform.
