Vijay Lokapally Gives His Take On ‘Rishabh Pant vs Sanju Samson’ Debate

The ongoing ‘Rishabh Pant vs Sanju Samson’ refuses to end as comparisons galore to determine who the better keeper-batter between these two is. Ever since former captain MS Dhoni bid farewell to international cricket, the position of wicketkeeper in the Indian cricket team hasn’t been fixed, especially when it comes to the white-ball format of the game.

Though, Rishabh Pant has cemented a legacy of his own in the longest format of the game, he hasn’t been able to replicate the same success in the white-ball format. In fact, Pant has been struggling to score runs in ODIs and T20Is. In white-ball formats, Pant has 1842 runs from 95 matches, with eight fifties and a century.

On the other hand, Sanju Samson has played for few games than Pant – 27 matches, where he has amassed 626 runs, but his average in ODIs is way higher: a staggering 66 as compared to Rishabh’s 35. Sanju has emerged out to be Rishabh’s biggest competition on the side. He had a good series vs South Africa at home. Going by the numbers, Samson may have scored lesser runs than Pant, but his impact has been greater in the limited format. Surprisingly enough, despite his good performances, Samson seems to be getting the rough end of the deal with limited chances.

Vijay Lokapally Gives His Take On ‘Pant vs Samson’ Debate:

Meanwhile, the latest one to join the ongoing ‘Pant vs Samson’ debate is veteran cricket journalist Vijay Lokapally, who has come up with an interesting opinion on this matter. For the unversed, Vijay Lokapally is a senior sports writer, who has written several books on Indian cricket. He has served as the Deputy Editor of The Hindu and has written for other publications too. Some of his notable works include — The Virender Sehwag Story; Driven: The Virat Kohli Story; World Cup Warriors; Speed Merchants ; The Hitman: The Rohit Sharma Story.

Speaking to ‘My Cricket Story’, Vijay Lokapally sir was asked about his opinion on the ‘Pant vs Samson’ debate. Responding to this, Vijay sir admitted that Sanju is a gifted player and should be given a lot more opportunities. However, he also claimed that his comparisons with Rishabh Pant are unfair. He feels Rishabh Pant will emerge as one of the most successful batters in India.

Watch the video here: