Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Rishabh Pant And Sanju Samson must use talent and class to give their best In IPL 2020. Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson are two young cricketers trying to seal their spot in India’s limited-overs set up as wicket-keepers. He feels the time has come for them to give their best as the upcoming season will be crucial for them to give their best as India gears up to host T20 World Cup in 2021.
IPL 2020 is all set to start from September 19 in the United Arab Emirates. Recently, the Chairman of the IPL Governing Council, Shri Brijesh Patel, confirmed that BCCI has got the clearance from the Indian government to host the tournament in UAE and the final will be played on November 10.
Sanjay Manjrekar: IPL 2020 Will Be Crucial For Enigmatic Rishabh Pant And Sanju Samson
Most eyes will be on the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma but the IPL 2020 will be crucial for both Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson to seal a permanent place in the Indian team in near future.
“People like Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson, for me as an analyst watching the players and trying to make an assessment, sometimes predictions go right or wrong, they are both slightly enigmatic for me,” Sanjay Manjrekar said on the Cricket Connected Show on Star Sports.
“Rishabh Pant, definitely there is something there. There is an X-factor and he will suddenly win you games in 10 minutes, that you thought you were losing. Sanju Samson as well, the kind of batting that he has got when he is on song, he just takes your breath away,” Sanjay Manjrekar added.
Rishabh Pant whose age is 21, has struggled to keep his place in the Indian team and is restricted to warming benches and carrying drinks in ODIs and T20Is as KL Rahul is now keeping wickets since January this year onwards. In tests too, Wriddhiman Saha is ahead of him as Rishabh Pant has failed in the last two tests in New Zealand in February with scores of 25,19,4 and 2 which will not help him in the long run.
Sanjay Manjrekar: Consistency Will Be Key For Both Pant and Samson
Meanwhile, Sanju Samson who has been drafted into the Indian T20I squad against Sri Lanka in January 2020, has scored only 6 in the final match and disappointed even in New Zealand with scores of 8 and 2 in the fourth and fifth matches. Despite being included in the Indian squad, both of them have not lived up to their reputation and form sustained during previous editions of IPL.
“But finally, consistency and generally winning performances is important, there is so much cricket happening and people clamouring for a batting position. Talent is there, class is there, potential is there but finally I am going to look at Sanju Samson’s performances and Rishabh Pant’s numbers as well to make a judgement on them,” Sanjay Manjrekar said.
“So, it is another big IPL and all everyone wants from them is consistency. It can’t be one good innings and then 3-4 failures where it seems that you have just thrown it away.”
Both Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson have thrown their wickets after being set, so consistency will be a key for them to sustain their places and hence this year’s IPL at UAE will give them another opportunity to perform well and be considered for selection again in the India National Cricket Team.