Dubai: Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has picked Rishabh Pant over Sanju Samson to be the wicket-keeper for the side in their upcoming Men’s T20 World Cup campaign while backing vice-captain Hardik Pandya to come good in the showpiece event after a forgettable Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
Left-handed Pant made a superb comeback to competitive cricket via IPL 2024 after recovering from a near-fatal car accident by amassing 446 runs in 13 matches while leading Delhi Capitals at a strike rate of 155.40, according to reports.
On the other hand, right-handed Samson made 504 runs in 14 matches at an impressive strike rate of 156.32 while leading his team Rajasthan Royals to eight wins and a spot in the playoffs in IPL 2024.
On the other hand, Pandya had a torrid time after scoring only 216 runs in 14 matches, and picked only 11 wickets in his first year as Mumbai Indians skipper, as the five-time champions finished at the bottom of the points table in IPL 2024.
But Yuvraj, a member of India winning the 2007 Men’s T20 World Cup in South Africa, expressed confidence in Pandya producing something extraordinary in the tournament. “Well, the good thing is that the selection has been made. (Selectors see) how players have performed in international cricket and then they look at IPL form. Just not the IPL form.”
India will begin their campaign on June 5 against Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.
Yuvraj also thinks captain Rohit Sharma and young left-handed batter Yashasvi Jaiswal should be India’s ideal opening pair in the tournament. “I think Rohit (Sharma) and (Yashasvi) Jaiswal should definitely open. Virat (Kohli) has been batting at No.3 and that’s his position.”
“And then you get Surya (Yadav) at four, and then you got a couple of big options. I’d like to see a couple of left-hand, right-hand combinations because it is harder to bowl at two combinations all the time.”
--------------------------------------
New Delhi: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes that Virat Kohli, who usually bats at number three, would be best served opening the batting alongside skipper Rohit Sharma at the T20 World Cup, starting June 1 in the West Indies and the USA.
Kohli has been having a stellar IPL season which has seen him score 708 runs so far at an average of 64.36 and more impressively with an IPL career best strike rate of 155.60 while opening for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
"They (selectors) have still got a decision to make because (Yashasvi) Jaiswal is in that squad and one thing they haven't got a lot in their team is left-hand batters, so they've got a decision to make with Jaiswal, but I'm pretty sure that they'll go with Kohli and Rohit Sharma (as openers)," Ponting was quoted as saying.
Virat was India's best player during the course of the 2022 World Cup as he finished the tournament as the top scorer having scored 296 runs in six innings, which included the unbeaten 82 against Pakistan which is hailed as one of his best innings to date.
