IND vs WI | Sanju Samson’s inclusion a strong message for Rishabh Pant, believes VVS Laxman

Sanju Samson has been included in the side for the West Indies T20 series after Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out due to an injury but VVS Laxman interpreted it as a call of duty for Pant. He opined that it is a “strong message” for Pant to either perform or perish as he has failed to justify the huge number of opportunities served to him. 

“The team management and the selection committee have passed on a strong message that we got a backup in the form of Sanju Samson. Rishabh Pant has been given a lot of opportunities and I’m sure that they will be communicating and giving him that security within that group. But then ultimately the player has to justify the faith the team management, the selection committee has been showing in him," Laxman told Star Sports.

"Unfortunately, Rishabh hasn’t been able to do that, but he has that X factor. I still feel that he is an exclusive batsman who can come and change the course of the match just by his ability to hit good balls out of the park.”

Dhawan hasn't been at his flamboyant best in T20Is lately and the former batter has called for KL Rahul to open in the shortest format of the game who has been in red hot form as far as T20s are concerned.

“The big question is that with Virat Kohli back and K.L. Rahul doing a good job batting at number three so then where will he fit? I believe that it is time that K.L. Rahul opens with Rohit Sharma. I would definitely have Rahul open with Rohit for the West Indies Series.”

As he talked about the young talents of the team, it is difficult to miss out on Shreyas Iyer who grabbed his opportunity in the Bangladesh series with both hands. Iyer has had some great starts lately and even capitalised on one to bring up his maiden half-ton in the shortest format of the game.

“I was very impressed with the way Shreyas Iyer has batted so far. The best part about him was when during the last T20 International in Nagpur when India lost their top 3 batsmen, he had the ability to assess the condition very well and was very versatile in his approach and when Rahul was the aggressor he played second fiddle and the moment Rahul got out and Rishabh Pant came to the crease under pressure and was not able to rotate the strike, Shreyas Iyer just registered that and changed his gear and that is what you want at a number four,” he said.