Adam Gilchrist’s honest-to-goodness take on Pant vs Samson vs Ishan for T20WC: ‘If he isn’t locked in, he should be’ | Cricket

The most intense competition for the single position in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup was for the wicketkeeper-batter role with. As many as six players were in fray for the two spots before the start of IPL 2024. As the tournament almost nears the halfway mark with BCCI set to announce the 15-member squad for the ICC event by the end of April, the competition seems to stand between three players – Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan. Giving his two cents on the competition, Australia legend Adam Gilchrist, without much hesitation, picked two players for the role.

Besides the aforementioned three, KL Rahul, Jitesh Sharma and Dhruv Jurel were all in contention for the two keeping positions in the World Cup team. Leading into the World Cup, Jitesh was the frontrunner for the spot, having featured in 7 of the 11 T20I matches India played post the ODI World Cup in November.

However, Jitesh fell behind in the race after a string of poor shows for Punjab Kings, Jurel struggled for consistent batting opportunities in Rajasthan Royals and KL Rahul’s struggle with strike rate continued.

Meanwhile, Pant, who was out for 15 months owing to his recovery from a car accident in December 2022, bounced back to hit back-to-back fifties after a quiet start, scoring 153 runs in five innings in IPL 2024 so far. And Gilchrist believes that the left-hander should be a definite lock-in for the World Cup squad.

The former Aussie gloveman admitted that while Ishan has been making a strong case with his tally of 161 runs at a strike rate of 182.39, which included a fiery 34-ball 69 against RCB on Thursday, he backed Samson for the back-up role in the World Cup team.

“I expect Rishabh Pant to be there definitely. And I would take Sanju Samson as well. Kishan is pushing a very good case, no doubt about that. But I think Rishabh Pant, if he is not locked in, he should be locked in,” he told Cricbuzz.

The Rajasthan Royals captain has been the highest run-getter among these probables with a tally of 246 runs at a strike rate of 157.69, laced with three fifties.