IND vs SA | Rishabh Pant needs to be wary of Sanju Samson's threat, believes Gautam Gambhir
Former Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir believes that Kerala's wicket-keeper batsman Sanju Samson is posing serious threat to Rishabh Pant's place in the shorter formats. Gambhir also believes that this three-match T20I series will be a golden opportunity for other youngsters to cement their spots.
Ever since making his IPL debut in 2013, Sanju Samson has been a name reverberating around the cricketing fraternity, thanks to his exuberance and flamboyance with the bat which has caught many an eye over the course of the last few years. Despite not putting up numbers on the domestic circuit, thanks to his sheer talent, Samson has always been in the fray of selection and once again caught all eyes last week by scoring a blistering 48-ball 91 against South Africa 'A' in an unofficial ODI.
Now, Gautam Gambhir, who has been vocal in the past about the need to include Samson in the side, has once again come forward and stated that incumbent Rishabh Pant needs to start delivering to keep his place in the side, with Samson lurking on the sidelines.
"Rishabh Pant is always exciting but he has to watch his back as my favourite Sanju Samson is throwing some serious challenges at him," Gambhir wrote in his column for Times of India.
The former Indian opener also believes that this series will be yet another golden opportunity for the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey and KL Rahul to cement their spots in the T20 side.
"It is another opportunity for young Indian batsmen to cement their place in the side. Manish Pandey looks much younger than his age of 29. Shreyas Iyer explained enough in the West Indies that he is a great deal more than the 'South Bombay' swag. KL Rahul is a force in white-ball format. It is an exciting series as there are a lot of individual battles going on considering the T20 World Cup next year," he added.
In the absence of Faf du Plessis, South Africa will be led by Quinton de Kock and Gambhir expressed his admiration for the 26-year-old, drawing comparisons between himself and cricketing greats Kumar Sangakkara and Brian Lara. However, Gambhir also warned about the possibility of de Kock's form with the bat withering due to the burden of captaincy.
"I like Quinton de Kock. He is one of those gorgeous left-handers which I always aspired to be but could never be. In full flow, he reminds me of Kumar Sangakkara and Brian Lara. Hopefully, he delivers as a captain but not at the cost of curtailing fluidity of his batting," Gambhir signed off.