Sanju Samson will be his first choice in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2024, said Kevin Pietersen. The T20 World Cup 2024 will be played in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA) in June.
The talks about the upcoming T20 World Cup are becoming more heated by the day, with IPL 2024 providing a variety of options for experts and veterans to argue. One of those discussions has been on the wicketkeeping role.
Six players – Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Jitesh Sharma, and Dhruv Jurel – competed for two berths in the Indian squad ahead of the commencement of the IPL 2024 season.
Pietersen was thrilled when Samson was named Player of the Match after RR defeated LSG by 7 wickets on Saturday, April 27 at Lucknow’s Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Samson was at his best, scoring an unbeaten 71 off 33 balls, including 7 fours and 4 sixes. On the strength of his performance, the Royals chased down a tough goal of 197 with 6 balls remaining in their innings.
Sanju Samson has to be on that airplane to the Caribbean and the USA- Kevin Pietersen
Impressed with Samson’s heroics, Pietersen stated that Samson would have been “one of my first picks” for the mega event, which will be held from June 1 to June 29.
“He has to go. There’s no doubt in my mind that he has to be on that aeroplane to the Caribbean and the USA in a couple of weeks. He is doing a lot with the pressure that he is also under as a captain and not being given higher honors. The way he scores runs and the situation he bats in, if I was the selector, he is one of my first picks,” Pietersen told Star Sports.
Samson has arguably been the Royals’ best batter this season and ranks second on the Orange Cap list. Samson has scored 385 runs in 9 games at an average of 77 and a strike rate of 161.08, with four fifties and a highest score of 82 to his name.
Saturday’s victory over LSG has put RR on the verge of qualifying for the playoffs. The Royals have won eight of their nine matches and are now leading the points table with 16 points and a net run rate of +0.694.
