Sanju Samson dropped, Rishabh Pant to be wicketkeeper in India’s T20 World Cup Playing XI picked by Yuvraj Singh.

The toss-up between Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson promises to be an curious one and Yuvraj Singh has just made it that bit more interesting. For the longest time, the competition between Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant for the wicketkeeper slot in India’s Playing XI was intense. Pant rose to superstardom thanks to his epic knocks across Australia, England, South Africa, and was earmarked as MS Dhoni’s successor in all formats, while Samson paid the prize for inconsistency. But when Pant was out indefinitely due to a near-fatal car crash and was uncertain about recovering in time for the T20 World Cup, Samson was in with a chance. He scored a century for India in an ODI against South Africa in January and has enjoyed his best-ever IPL season, scoring 504 runs with the possibility of more. Eventually, both got the nod and secured a place in India’s 15-man squad. Despite scoring fewer runs and looking unsure in patches, the belief was that Pant would pip Samson and start as India’s wicketkeeper in the T20 World Cup. But the raging-hot form displayed by the Rajasthan Royals captain has entirely changed the narrative. On current form, and depending on where RR finishes in the IPL 2024, Samson can hold the edge over Pant, who scored 446 runs for Delhi Capitals this season at an average of 40.5 and strike rate of 155.4. However, Yuvraj Singh doesn’t think so. The former India all-rounder reckons India can really do with a left-hander in the middle order and hence, gives his vote of confidence to Pant. “I would probably go for Rishabh. Obviously, Sanju is also in great form, but Rishabh (is a) left-hander, and I believe that Rishabh has massive potential to win games for India, which he has done in the past. Lot more in Test cricket, and he’s someone who I feel can be a match-winner on the big stage,” Yuvraj said while speaking to ICC.