{"id":717232,"date":"2026-01-24T09:07:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T09:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/717232\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T09:07:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T09:07:22","slug":"id-pick-him-any-day-former-cricketer-chooses-rishabh-pant-over-sanju-samson-in-t20is-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/717232\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I’d pick him any day’: Former cricketer chooses Rishabh Pant over Sanju Samson in T20Is | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"'I'dRishabh Pant and Sanju Samson (Agency Image) Former New Zealand wicketkeeper Ian Smith has questioned India\u2019s decision to leave Rishabh Pant<\/a> out of their T20 World Cup squad, saying a player of his ability should \u201cwalk into any T20 side\u201d. Pant, who is currently recovering from a side strain, has not featured in India\u2019s T20 plans since the 2024 World Cup in Barbados. Sanju Samson<\/a> has been named as the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter for the upcoming tournament, with Ishan Kishan<\/a> included among the reserves.<\/p>\n

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Speaking to PTI on the sidelines of the second T20 between India and New Zealand, Smith said he would have selected Pant ahead of Samson. \u201cI\u2019d pick Rishabh Pant in my team any day of the week. I\u2019m surprised that Rishabh Pant is not here. He is a wonderfully gifted player. He can win a match. That\u2019s what you\u2019ve got to have with T20 players. They\u2019ve got to be match-winners,\u201d Smith said. Smith said team balance often dictated selection decisions in modern T20 cricket and suggested that leaving out Shubman Gill to accommodate Samson at the top of the order was understandable. \u201cThese sides are all about balance. You haven\u2019t got room for too many players who only have one discipline. It\u2019s all about finding the right mix,\u201d he said. He added that wicketkeeper-batters were now expected to bat higher up the order to justify their place in the side. \u201cInvariably, wicketkeepers used to bat at seven. Now they have to bat in the top four to be worth their soap. Their primary strength has to be batting, with wicketkeeping as the secondary skill,\u201d Smith said. Citing New Zealand\u2019s approach, Smith pointed to Tim Seifert as an example of a player who offers value in both disciplines. \u201cHe\u2019s equally good as a keeper and as a batter. It\u2019s hard to split his skills. Those kinds of players are gold because they help the balance of the side,\u201d he said. Smith also named India among his top contenders to defend their T20 World Cup title, noting the advantage of playing at home. \u201cIndia have got a good chance to defend because they\u2019re playing at home and know the conditions very well. But it\u2019s a very even competition. About five teams could win it,\u201d he said. Smith also identified Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand as teams capable of challenging for the title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson (Agency Image) Former New Zealand wicketkeeper Ian Smith has questioned India\u2019s decision to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4101],"tags":[1406,214344,16397,214346,25122,102979,22958,17703,79,214345,7379,16,15],"class_list":["post-717232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-cricket","tag-ian-smith","tag-india-cricket-team","tag-india-t20-world-cup-contenders","tag-ishan-kishan","tag-new-zealand-cricket","tag-rishabh-pant","tag-sanju-samson","tag-sports","tag-t20-squad-selection","tag-t20-world-cup","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115949289020856811","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}