Gautam Gambhir has been a long admirer of Sanju Samson to be team India’s wicketkeeper-batsman. Recently, when the Kerala batsman shone in the fifth unofficial one-day against South Africa A, Gambhir again backed Samson to be the no.4 batsman but the India legend is surprised to see the treatment of Rishabh by the team management.
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Writing in his column for The Times of India, Gambhir wrote that it is disappointing to see team management use words like a ‘rap on the knuckles’ and ‘fearless to carless’ for Rishabh.
“Personally, I have always backed Sanju Samson ahead of Rishabh for wicketkeeper batsman’s role but it is disappointing to see the team management using words like “from fearless to careless”, “wrap on Rishbah’s knuckles” and “need for a backup of Rishabh”. This is no way to handle a young human resource. Everyone wants him to play “sensible” cricket,” he wrote in his column for TOI.
Before the start of the series against South Africa, India head coach Ravi Shastri had sent a stern message to Rishabh by saying: “talent or no talent, there will be a wrap on the knuckles,” He said this for Rishabh, who was dismissed playing a loose shot against West Indies.
The youngster was again dismissed while playing a rash shot against South Africa, that again brought him under the spotlight. Though it is a fact that he is still in the early years of his career and the team management’s words have put more pressure on him.
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It clearly indicates that the coaches see him as the successor to MS Dhoni across formats. Rishabh has already sealed the no.1 spot in Tests but has yet to come up with sort of performances in limited-over cricket to seal a spot.
Although the inclusion of Wriddhiman Saha in the series against South Africa will keep Rishabh on tenterhooks as Saha’s wicketkeeping skills are too good to be ignored.
As for Sanju, he has a strong chance of being recalled to the national squad for the T20I series against Bangladesh as selectors are expected to rest Rishabh to manage his workload.
Sanju has a direct competition with Ishan Kishan. With the Vijay Hazare Trophy starting this Tuesday, the batsman who will perform well in the tournament will be getting a call-up for the home series.