NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson has made his case to be India’s first-choice wicket-keeper at the T20 World Cup, the team’s director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara has said.

Samson has been named in India’s 15-member squ­ad as wicket-keeper/batsman alongside Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant, who has also impre­ssed in the Indian Premier League after his return to cricket following a horror car crash.

He smashed 86 off 46 balls on Tuesday but the knock went in vain, with the Capitals winning by 20 runs at home.

Samson has been in prime form with 471 runs in 11 matches and Tues­day’s match was his fifth half-century of the season.

Sangakkara played down the Pant versus Samson debate in the post-match press conference but made his choice clear.

“It’s really up to Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma and how they see the combination,” Sangakkara told reporters. “But he has made his case, so hopefully he’ll have a good run in the World Cup.”

Samson has been an und­e­r­stated leader of his team, who are all but through to the play-offs with eight wins in 11 matches, and is third in the batting list behind Virat Kohli (542) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (541).

“With Sanju, the biggest thing about this season for him is having a lot of clarity about the way he should bat,” former Sri Lanka wicket-keeper/batsman Sangakkara said.

“There are certain stages of the game that he seems to lose a bit of concentration, which we’ve addressed from past seasons,” he added.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2024