While the Rishabh Pant vs Sanju Samson debate continues on social media, India’s stand-in captain for the 3-match ODI series in New Zealand has once again backed the 24-year-old and asked the Kerala-based cricketer to wait for his chance.
Speaking in the post-match conference of the 3rd ODI that was abandoned due to rain, Dhawan said, ‘Overall you have to see the larger picture and who is your match winner. You analyse and your decisions are based on that, Sanju Samson has been doing really well in whatever opportunity he got. But sometimes you got to wait for your chances because the other player has done well and we know based on Pant's skill that he's a match-winner. So you need to back him when he's not doing well’
Though Pant has turned up as a match-winner in the longest format of the game, it has been comparatively difficult for him to convert the Test success in white-ball format. In the last nine innings across the two white-ball formats, he has scored 10, 15, 11, 6, 6, 3, 9, 9, and 27. In his contrast, Samson has excelled in the bare minimum opportunities he has got. Though he was part of India’s white-ball tour to New Zealand he only got to play 1 game out of the 3 T20Is and 3ODIs India played. He scored a 36 off 38 in the 1st ODI. India to next face Bangladesh in a 3-match ODI series starting December 4.