Gautam Gambhir fires Sanju Samson warning at Rishabh Pant

The way things have panned out in recent times, it is more or less clear that Rishabh Pant will get an extended rope from Team India. The youngster is widely seen as the heir of legendary wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni. Pant is one of the most sought after youngsters in the country and has already proved himself in Tests by scoring centuries in England and Australia. He, however, is yet to make an impression in ODIs and T20Is.

But irrespective of how he has performed, Pant looks set to be backed to the hilt by the team. However, former India opener Gautam Gambhir does not think on the same line. The ex-cricketer-turned-politician believes that Kerala’s wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson is posing serious threat to Pant’s place in the shorter formats. Gambhir has always been very vocal in his praise for Samson and feels that the highly-rated batsman could replace Pant in the ODI and the T20I team.

“Rishabh Pant is always exciting but he has to watch his back as my favourite Sanju Samson is throwing some serious challenges at him,” Gambhir wrote in his column for Times of India.

Samson is not in the scheme of things as far as the national team is concerned but he is not too low in the pecking order. The right-handed batsman has broken into the India A side and now needs to perform consistently. He recently played in the last two games of the five-match one-day series against South Africa A and made an instant impression. In the last game, he blasted 91 from just 48 balls to help India A win the rain-affected game.

Time for Pant to deliver

Unlike most of his teammates, Rishabh Pant had a forgettable tour of West Indies. The youngster performed miserably in the Caribbeans across formats and drew criticism. What made things worse for him was the mode of his dismissals. More often than not, the left-hander fell while playing poor shots. But fortunately for him, the team did not drop him in any game. Pant will now have to deliver or else he can face some tough times.